Sensitivity analysis to evaluate the transport properties of CdZnTe detectors using alpha particles and low-energy gamma-rays

A sensitivity analysis of the methods used to evaluate the transport properties of a CdZnTe detector was performed using two different radiations (α particle and gamma-ray) emitted from an '241Am source. The mobility-lifetime products of the electron-hole pair in a planar CZT detector (5 x 5 x 2 mm3) were determined by fitting the peak position as a function of biased voltage data to the Hecht equation. To verify the accuracy of these products derived from (α particles and low-energy gamma-rays, an energy spectrum considering the transport property of the CZT detector was simulated through a combination of the deposited energy and the charge collection efficiency at a specific position. It was found that the shaping time of the amplifier module significantly affects the determination of the (μτ) products; the α particle method was stabilized with an increase in the shaping time and was less sensitive to this change compared to when the gamma-ray method was used. In the case of the simulated energy spectrum with transport properties evaluated by the α particle method, the peak position and tail were slightly different from the measured result, whereas the energy spectrum derived from the low-energy gamma-ray was in good agreement with the experimental results. From these results, it was confirmed that low-energy gamma-rays are more useful when seeking to obtain the transport properties of carriers than α particles because the methods that use gamma-rays are less influenced by the surface condition of the CZT detector. Furthermore, the analysis system employed in this study, which was configured by a combination of Monte Carlo simulation and the Hecht model, is expected to be highly applicable to the study of the characteristics of CZT detectors.