Combined detectors of charged particles based on zinc selenide scintillators and silicon photodiodes

Combined detectors of charged particles are described based on zinc selenide (ZnSe(Te)) crystals, silicon photodiodes and charge-sensitive amplifiers. ZnSe(Te) scintillators are characterized by high alpha to beta ratio (~1.0), good scintillation efficiency (up to 22%), and high radiation stability (up to 100 Mrad), together with good spectral matching with silicon PIN photodiodes. The signals coming from the photodiode in the two modes (photoreceiver and semiconductor detector) differ in the amplitude values and pulse duration, which opens new possibilities for development and application of such combined detectors

Scintillators based on zinc selenide and ticor for detection of charged particles

Studies of charged particle detectors based on ZnSe(Te) and Al₂O₃(Ti⁺³) (ticor) optically connected with photodiodes (PD) of S3590 type are reported. The charge-sensitive preamplifier connected with PD had equivalent noise level of 420 electrons with formation time of 5 µs. The signal value from ticor on ²⁰⁷Bi internal conversion electrons (ICE) with Ee = 976 keV is equivalent to the signal value from Eg = 14 keV when PD operates in the semiconductor detector mode (without a scintillator); from a-particles with Ea = 5150 keV it corresponds to 20 keV. From these results, α/β-ratio is ~ 0.28. Energy resolution of ticor on α-particles Ra with Ee = 5150 keV is 11.6 %, on ICE with Ee = 976 keV Re₁/₂ = 15%. Under the same conditions Ra = 3% and Re = 3.7% for single crystal ZnSe(Te). A possibility to create combined detectors of electrons and a-particles on the basis of these two scintillators is discussed