Performance of a Thin-Window Silicon Drift Detector X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer

Several sets of hexagonal Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) arrays were produced by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and by the commercial vendor, KETEK. These detector arrays were tested at BNL. Each array consists of 14 independent SDD detectors (pixels) and two additional test pixels located at two corners of the array. The side of the detector upon which the X-ray radiation is incident (window side) has a thin junction covering the entire active area. The opposite side (device side) contains a drift-field electrode structure in the form of a hexagonal spiral and an electron collecting anode. There are four guard rings surrounding the 14-pixel array area on each side of the detector. Within each array, seven pixels have aluminum field plates - interrupted spirals that stabilize the electric potential under the Si- SiO
₂
interface, while the other seven do not. Three bias voltages are applied to control the drift field in the silicon volume; one is applied to a rectifying contact surrounding the central anode (one for each pixel), one is applied to the detector entrance window (common to the full array), and a third bias is applied to a contact on the outer portion of the spiral, common to all pixels in the array. Some arrays were recently tested in NSLS beam line U3C at BNL. For this work, we installed the complete assemblies in the vacuum and cooled them to -27degC. During this beam run, we collected spectra for energies ranging between 350 and 900 eV in several pixels, some with field plates and others without. The detailed testing results of several arrays are reported here.