Novel CZT detectors for homeland security applications

We report on the development and test of a novel type of Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) detector: Dual Anode Detectors. Our work focuses on large volume (10 × 20 × 20 mm³) CZT crystals contacted with dual anodes, and either a segmented cathode or four lateral contacts, and a monolithic cathode. The charge induced on all contacts can be used to determine the energy and the 3-D interaction location of detected X-ray and gamma-ray photons. We give an overview of the status of the detector development program, emphasize strengths and weaknesses of the dual anode designs in comparison to conventional coplanar grid and pixel detectors, and discuss possible applications of Dual Anode Detectors in Homeland Security applications.