Performance of submillimeter CdZnTe strip detectors

Abstract

We report results of a study undertaken to experimentally determine the achievable spatial resolution of monolithic cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) arrays. It was demonstrated that CZT arrays can produce direct electronic X-ray images with fine spatial resolution and high detection efficiency. For low X-ray energies useful for imaging soft tissue such as the breast, 50 micron resolution with virtually 100% detection efficiency were demonstrated, while for higher energy X-rays where fluorescence dominates the signal spreading, 100 micron resolution was demonstrated. Due to electrostatic effects of small anodes, improved charge deficit tailing and pulse rise time results are observed for strips as well as pixels.