A comparative study of silicon drift detectors with photomultipliers, Avalanche Photodiodes and pin photodiodes in gamma spectrometry with La[Br.sub.3] crystals

The performance of a silicon drift detector (SDD) with an integrated FET, delivered by the company PNSensor, Munich, Germany, was studied in gamma spectrometry at room temperature (23-25[degrees]C) with a La[Br.sub.3]:Ce crystal of 6 mm diameter and 6 mm height. The SDD characteristics were compared with those measured with a Photonis XP5212 photomultiplier, a Large Area Avalanche Photodiode (LAAPD) of Advanced Photonix, Inc., and a Hamamatsu S3590-18 Photodiode (PD). Energy resolution versus gamma ray energies and its components related to the photoelectron/electron-hole pair statistics and dark noise were measured and compared. At low energies, below 100 keV, the light readout by the photomultiplier gives the best results, while for high energies, above 300 keV, the light readout by the SDD delivers superior energy resolution. In particular, the best energy resolution of 2.7 % was determined for 662 keV gamma rays from a [sup.137]Cs source. Index Terms--Avalanche photodiodes, energy resolution, La[Br.sub.3] scintillator, photomultipliers, pin photodiodes, silicon drift detectors.