Lecture

Semiconductor Detectors

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In course

PHYS-452: Radiation detection

The course presents the detection of ionizing radiation in the keV and MeV energy ranges. Physical processes of radiation/matter interaction are introduced. All steps of detection are covered, as well as detectors, instrumentations and measurements methods ...

Description

This lecture covers the history of semiconductor detectors, the principles of detectors based on the motion of charge carriers, the electronic band structure in semiconductors, charge mobility and carrier concentration, doping, p-n junctions, and the operation of intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductor detectors.

Instructor

Vincent Pierre Lamirand

After a PhD on the measurement of (p,n) reactions cross sections on small accelerators (IRSN, France), I have worked on the development of neutron detectors and measurement methods for reactor physics (CEA, France). I am part of the LRS staff since October 2014.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Condensed matter physics: Solid-state physics

Related concepts (32)

Doping (semiconductor)

In semiconductor production, doping is the intentional introduction of impurities into an intrinsic semiconductor for the purpose of modulating its electrical, optical and structural properties. The doped material is referred to as an extrinsic semiconductor. Small numbers of dopant atoms can change the ability of a semiconductor to conduct electricity. When on the order of one dopant atom is added per 100 million atoms, the doping is said to be low or light.

Electron mobility

In solid-state physics, the electron mobility characterises how quickly an electron can move through a metal or semiconductor when pulled by an electric field. There is an analogous quantity for holes, called hole mobility. The term carrier mobility refers in general to both electron and hole mobility. Electron and hole mobility are special cases of electrical mobility of charged particles in a fluid under an applied electric field. When an electric field E is applied across a piece of material, the electrons respond by moving with an average velocity called the drift velocity, .

Charge carrier

In physics, a charge carrier is a particle or quasiparticle that is free to move, carrying an electric charge, especially the particles that carry electric charges in electrical conductors. Examples are electrons, ions and holes. The term is used most commonly in solid state physics. In a conducting medium, an electric field can exert force on these free particles, causing a net motion of the particles through the medium; this is what constitutes an electric current.

Depletion region

In semiconductor physics, the depletion region, also called depletion layer, depletion zone, junction region, space charge region or space charge layer, is an insulating region within a conductive, doped semiconductor material where the mobile charge carriers have been diffused away, or have been forced away by an electric field. The only elements left in the depletion region are ionized donor or acceptor impurities. This region of uncovered positive and negative ions is called the depletion region due to the depletion of carriers in this region, leaving none to carry a current.

Fermi level

The Fermi level of a solid-state body is the thermodynamic work required to add one electron to the body. It is a thermodynamic quantity usually denoted by μ or EF for brevity. The Fermi level does not include the work required to remove the electron from wherever it came from. A precise understanding of the Fermi level—how it relates to electronic band structure in determining electronic properties; how it relates to the voltage and flow of charge in an electronic circuit—is essential to an understanding of solid-state physics.

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