Microstrip Transmission-Line Electrodes for Position Sensitive Radiation Detection

A serpentine transmission-line in a microstrip configuration is used to enable fine position sensing in semiconductor radiation detectors. Specifically demonstrated with silicon substrates coupled to standard charge-sensitive preamplifiers, a meandering electrode is used to enable lateral position sensing to within an approximately 1 cm length along the electrode. Configured in a rectilinear shape, the lateral resolution is therefore equivalent to the strip pitch, which we have made as small as 4 μm. The position-of-interaction is extracted using either timing or amplitude techniques, both enabled by the slow-wave propagation structure inherent to the standard metal-semiconductor-insulator configuration of the bounding electrodes, the analysis of which is summarized and compared experimentally.