Time-dependent electric field in Al/CdTe/Pt detectors

Al/CdTe/Pt detectors are very attractive devices for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy, even though they suffer from bias-induced time instability (polarization). Polarization phenomena cause a progressive time-degradation of the spectroscopic performance of the detectors, due to hole trapping and detrapping from deep acceptor levels that directly control the electric field distribution. In this work we present experimental investigations on the electric field profile of planar Al/CdTe/Pt detectors by means of Pockels effect measurements. The time/temperature dependence of the electric field was investigated in a long time window (up to 10 h) and the correlation with the reverse current transients was also studied. Two energy levels (0.62 eV and 1.16 eV) of the deep hole traps were measured, in agreement with our previous results obtained through electrical and spectroscopic approaches.