A study of pixilated CdZnTe detectors for neutrino research

We investigated the performance of a pixilated CdZnTe detector that could detect signatures resulting from rare double-beta neutrino-less decays. The room-temperature detector contains radioactive isotopes which allow us to study rare decay modes. In order to differentiate between real signals from background, it must have excellent energy resolution. The CdZnTe's inherent hole trapping makes it challenging to achieve high energy resolution. The pixilated electrode is one of the schemes to achieve better energy resolution and more efficient background rejection than planar electrode. We are also investigating the detector's tracking capability.