Improvement in the low energy collection efficiency of Si(Li) X-ray detectors

Soft X-ray beam-line applications are of fundamental importance to material research, and commonly employ high-resolution Si(Li) detectors for energy dispersive spectroscopy. However, the measurement of X-rays below 1 keV is compromised by absorption in the material layers in front of the active crystal and a dead layer at the crystal surface. Various Schottky barrier type contacts were investigated resulting in a 40% reduction of the dead-layer thickness and a factor of two increased sensitivity at carbon Kα compared to the standard Si(Li) detector. Si(Li) detectors were tested on the U7A soft X-ray beam-line at the National Synchrotron Light Source and on a scanning electron microscope (SEM).