The "State-of-The Art" in Nuclear Particle Detectors

The theoretical and experimental characteristics of semiconductor particle detectors have been discussed at several conferences. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the recent results obtained with conventional p-n and surface-barrier detectors as well as to indicate the performance of ion-drifted p-i-n and high-resistivity gallium-arsenide and silicon "conductivity" detectors. The operation of conventional devices in regard to resolution and stability measurements, the existence of a fission fragment energy defect, irradiation effects, and base resistivity variations is discussed. The response, resolution, and rise time of p-i-n detectors (depletion widths from 1 to 5 mm) are presented along with some of the factors influencing the characteristics of the ion-drift process. Work with high-resistivity gallium-arsenide and silicon detectors has shown the influence of recombination processes. The limitations and further improvements in these devices are indicated.