Spieler H. Semiconductor detector systems

Oxford University Press, 2005. — 506 p. — ISBN: 978–0–19–852784–8.This book is written primarily for physicists who device new detectors and bring them into operation. It includes basic discussions of amplifiers, circuits, and electronic noise that are familiar to engineers, but not covered in a typical physics curriculum.
Semiconductor sensors patterned at the micron scale combined with custom-designed integrated circuits have revolutionized semiconductor radiation detector systems. Designs covering many square meters with millions of signal channels are now commonplace in high-energy physics and the technology is finding its way into many other fields, ranging from astrophysics to experiments at synchrotron light sources and medical imaging. This book presents a discussion of the many facets of highly integrated semiconductor detector systems, covering sensors, signal processing, transistors, circuits, low-noise electronics, and radiation effects. To lay a basis for the more detailed discussions in the book and aid in understanding how these different elements combine to form functional detector systems, the text includes introductions to semiconductor physics, diodes, detectors, signal formation, transistors, amplifier circuits, electronic noise mechanisms, and signal processing. A chapter on digital electronics includes key elements of analog-to-digital converters and an introduction to digital signal processing. The physics of radiation damage in semiconductor devices is discussed and applied to detectors and electronics. The diversity of design approaches is illustrated in a chapter describing systems in high-energy physics, astronomy, and astrophysics. Finally, a chapter ‘Why things don't work’, discusses common pitfalls, covering interference mechanisms such as power supply noise, microphonics, and shared current paths (‘ground loops’), together with mitigation techniques for pickup noise reduction, both at the circuit and system level. Beginning at a basic level, the book provides a unique introduction to a key area of modern science.