Temperature dependence of the electron-drift anisotropy and implications for the electron-drift model

Abstract

Abstract The electron drift in germanium detectors is modeled making many assumptions. Confronted with data, these assumptions have to be revisited. The temperature dependence of the drift of electrons was studied in detail for an n-type segmented point-contact germanium detector. The detector was mounted in a temperature controlled, electrically cooled cryostat. Surface events were induced with collimated 81 keV photons from a 133 Ba source. A detailed analysis of the rise time of pulses collected in surface scans, performed at different temperatures, is presented. The longitudinal anisotropy of the electron drift decreases with rising temperature. A new approach, making use of designated rise-time windows determined by simulations using SolidStateDetectors.jl , was used to isolate the longitudinal drift of electrons along different axes to quantify this observation. The measured temperature dependence of the longitudinal drift velocities combined with the standard electron-drift model as widely used in relevant simulation packages results in unphysical predictions. A modification of the electron-drift model based on assuming phonons to be the dominating scattering centers for electrons is motivated and described. The results of a first implementation of the modified model in SolidStateDetectors.jl are shown. They describe the temperature dependence of the data reasonably well. A general review of the model and the standard input values for mobilities is suggested.