Thick Silicon Double-Sided Strip Detectors for Low-Energy Small-Animal SPECT

This work presents characterization studies of thick silicon double-sided strip detectors for a high-resolution small-animal SPECT. The dimension of these detectors is 60.4 mm times 60.4 mm times 1 mm. There are 1024 strips on each side that give the coordinates of the photon interaction, with each strip processed by a separate ASIC channel. Our measurement shows that intrinsic spatial resolution equivalent to the 59 mum strip pitch is attainable. Good trigger uniformity can be achieved by proper setting of a 4-bit DAC in each ASIC channel to remove trigger threshold variations. This is particularly important for triggering at low energies. The thick silicon DSSD (Double-sided strip detector) shows high potential for small-animal SPECT.