Planar LAAPDs: temperature dependence, performance, and application in low-energy X-ray spectroscopy

An experiment measuring the 2S Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen (μ-p) was performed at the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland. It required small and compact detectors for 1.9 keV X-rays (2P-1S transition) with an energy resolution around 25% at 2 keV, a time resolution better than 100 ns, a large solid angle coverage, and insensitivity to a 5 T magnetic field. We chose Large Area Avalanche Photodiodes (LAAPDs) from Radiation Monitoring Devices as X-ray detectors, and they were used during the last data taking period in 2003. For X-ray spectroscopy applications, these LAAPDs have to be cooled in order to suppress the dark current noise; hence, a series of tests were performed to choose the optimal operation temperature. Specifically, the temperature dependence of gain, energy resolution, dark current, excess noise factor, and detector response linearity was studied. Finally, details of the LAAPDs application in the muonic hydrogen experiment as well as their response to α particles are presented.