Position-sensitive Si pad detectors for electron emission channeling experiments

Position-sensitive detector systems, initially developed for the detection of X-rays, have been adapted for their use in electron emission channeling experiments. Each detection system consists of a 30.8 x 30.8 mm(2) 22 x 22-pad Si detector, either of 0.3, 0.5 or 1 mm thickness, four 128-channel preamplifier chips, a backplane trigger circuit, a sampling analog to digital converter, a digital signal processor, and a personal computer for data display and storage. The operational principle of these detection systems is described, and characteristic features such as energy and position resolution and maximum count rate, which have been determined from tests with conversion electrons and beta(-) particles in the energy range 40-600 keV, are presented. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.