Silicon photodetectors have been successfully employed for scintillation detection in gamma-ray spectroscopy and imaging applications. When compared to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), silicon photodetectors are characterized by higher quantum efficiency to the scintillation light. Moreover, these devices are more compact, immune to magnetic fields and can be easily integrated in monolithic arrays of units whose size could range from few mm² up to some cm². New gamma-ray detection systems based on scintillators coupled to silicon photodetectors have been recently developed for astrophysics experiments as well as for imaging systems in nuclear medicine. Among silicon detectors, conventional silicon PN photodiodes (PDs), avalanche photodiodes (APDs) and silicon drift detectors (SDDs) have been used with scintillators both as single units and as monolithic arrays. In the paper, the main features of silicon photodetectors used with scintillators for gamma detection are shortly described and the more recent achievements in their development are overviewed. Finally, a comparison of the achievable performances with PDs, APDs, and SDDs is reported.

Date Published: 21 November 2000
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 4141, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics II, (21 November 2000); doi: 10.1117/12.407570

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4141:
Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics II
Ralph B. James; Richard C. Schirato, Editor(s)