Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Gamma-ray spectroscopy is a valuable tool of science and technology. Many applications for this tool are in need of a detector technology capable of achieving excellent energy resolution and efficient detection while operating at room temperature. Detectors based on the material cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) could potentially meet this need if certain material deficiencies are addressed. The coplanar-grid as well as other electron-only detection techniques are effective in overcoming some of the material problems of CdZnTe and, consequently, have led to efficient gamma-ray detectors with good energy resolution while operating at room temperature. At the present time, the performance of these detectors is mainly limited by the degree of uniformity in electron generation and transport. Despite recent progress in the growth of CdZnTe material, small variations in these properties remain a barrier to the widespread success of such detectors. Alpha-particle response characterization of CdZnTe crystals fabricated into simple planar detectors provides an effective tool to accurately study such variations. We have used a finely collimated alpha source to produce two-dimensional maps of detector response. For a number of crystals, a clear correlation has been observed between their alpha response maps and the distribution of tellurium inclusions inside the crystals. An analysis of the induced charge signals indicates that regions of enhanced electron trapping are associated with the inclusions, and that these regions extend beyond the physical size of the inclusions. Such regions introduce non-uniform electron trapping in the material that then degrades the spectroscopic performance of the material as a gamma-ray detector.