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Richard Pehl

Rex C Trammell

Aaron B Brill

James Lathrop

Ethan Hull

Bruce Suttle

A germanium semiconductor radiation detector contact made of yttrium metal. A thin (&#x2dc;1000 &#x212b;) deposited layer of yttrium metal forms a thin hole-barrier and/or electron-barrier contact on both p- and n-type germanium semiconductor radiation detectors. Yttrium contacts provide a sufficiently high hole barrier to prevent measurable contact leakage current below &#x2dc;120 K. The yttrium contacts can be conveniently segmented into multiple electrically independent electrodes having inter-electrode resistances greater than 10 G&#x3a9;. Germanium semiconductor radiation detector diodes fabricated with yttrium contacts provide good gamma-ray spectroscopy data.

Yttrium contacts for germanium semiconductor radiation detectors

A method and apparatus for improving the sensitivity of a position sensitive gamma ray detector and gamma camera. To obtain good position resolution, small effective detector elements are required. However, such small detector elements cause nearly all the gamma rays interacting by Compton scattering to be lost, i.e., they will not contribute to forming the image. The method and apparatus of the present invention takes advantage of the fact that when an incoming gamma ray of known energy is completely absorbed in two separate detector elements the sum of the energy depositions identifies this gamma ray as a valid event. Furthermore, for incoming gamma rays having energies less than 511/2 keV the position where the smallest energy is deposited is the first interaction site and therefore this position can also contribute to forming the image. Alternatively, both interaction sites can be used to form the image, thus improving sensitivity but increasing background noise compared with the preferred embodiment.

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Raymond, WA, United States of America

Richard Pehl