Applications of silicon detectors in high energy physics and astrophysics

Silicon detectors are being increasingly used in high energy physics and in astronomy. In the former case they are used for precisely locating the trajectories of particles which traverse the detectors, while in the latter case they are used for very low level light imaging. In both applications, the use of silicon is preferred because of the low energy needed to liberate an electron-hole pair in the medium and because of the highly developed planar technology which allows sophisticated devices with excellent spatial precision to be fabricated. The specific devices discussed are microstrip detectors and 2-dimensional imaging CCDs, including a summary of radiation damage since this is of importance in both the astronomical and particle physics applications. (orig.)