Extended Defects in CdZnTe Radiation Detectors

Large-volume CdZnTe (CZT) single crystals with electron lifetime exceeding 10 mu s have recently become commercially available. This opened the opportunity for making room temperature CZT gamma-ray detectors with extended thicknesses and larger effective areas. However, the extended defects that are present even in the highest-quality material remain a major drawback which affects the availability and cost of large CZT detectors. In contrast to the point defects that control electron lifetime and whose effects on the charge collection can be electronically corrected, the extended defects introduce significant fluctuations in the collected charge, which increase with a crystal's thickness. The extended defects limit the uniformity in the electrons' drift distance in CZT crystals, above which electron trapping cannot effectively be corrected. In this paper, we illustrate the roles of the extended defects in CZT detectors with different geometries. We emphasize that the crystallinity of commercial CZT materials remains a major obstacle on the path to developing thick, large-volume CZT detectors for gamma-ray imaging and spectroscopy.