Bridging the price/performance gap between silicon drift and silicon PIN diode detectors

Use of silicon drift detectors continues to increase as new XRF applications drive performance improvements beyond existing silicon PIN diode detector capabilities. Recent developments in Si-PIN detectors result in significantly improved performance. This paper describes improvements in spectral resolution, count rate capability, and detection limits in silicon PIN diode detectors. These improvements result in detectors that, for some applications, offer an attractive alternative to silicon drift detectors at a fraction of the cost. This improvement helps bridge the gap between existing silicon PIN diode detector capability and the silicon drift detector (SDD).