Silicon carbide for high resolution X-ray detectors operating up to 100°C

This work presents experimental results on the possibility of high resolution X-ray spectroscopy in a wide temperature range, from room temperature up to 100degreesC without any cooling system, using Silicon Carbide (SiC) detectors. This capability arises from the very low noise of SiC detectors at high temperature because of their extremely low-leakage current density (20 pA/cm(2), at 24degreesC and 1 nA/cm(2) at 107degreesC with mean electric fields of 120 kV/cm). Spectra of Am-241 acquired by a pixel SiC detector are reported with equivalent noise energies of 315 eV FWHM at 27degreesC and 797 eV FWHM at 100degreesC. The contributions of the different noise sources of the detector and of the front-end electronics are determined and analyzed. The potential for SiC X-ray detectors and open issues in SiC technology are highlighted. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.