[en] The present thesis treats the development of novel energy- and position-resolving semiconductor detectors: Fully depletable pn CCD's. In experiments of high-energy physics they are suited as highly resolving position-sensitive detectors for minimally ionizing particles. In nuclear and atomic physics they can be applied as position-resolving energy spectrometers. Increasing interest detectors of this type find also at synchrotron-radiation sources with photon energies from 20 eV to 50 keV. As focal instruments of X-ray telescopes they are in astrophysical measurements in an energy range from 100 eV to 15 keV of use. The required accuracy in the energy measurement amounts to 100 eV (FWHM) at an X-ray energy of 1 keV, at a simultaneous precision of the position determination of 50 μm. The measurement results which are here presented on the first fully depletable CCD's show that the components posses the potential to fulfill these requirements. (orig.)

[en] The successful commissioning of the XMM-Newton focal plane detectors, radiation hard X-ray imaging spectroscopic CCDs, has attracted some attention: Reliably operating X-ray CCDs are delivering extraordinary images, recorded in a single-photon counting mode, imaged through the largest X-ray telescope ever built. The experimental boundary conditions from space applications will serve as a setting to confine the scope of this review. Of course, related applications in other fields of basic and applied science will also be treated. State of the art X-ray detectors with energy, position and time resolution at high quantum efficiency from the near-infrared up to 20 keV are described in detail: todays most advanced systems comprise charge coupled devices and active pixel sensors as well as pixellized silicon drift detectors. They have been developed for astrophysics experiments in space, for material analysis and for experiments at synchrotron radiation facilities. The functional principles of the silicon devices are derived from basic solid-state device physics. The spatial resolution, the spectroscopic performance of the systems, the long-term stability and the limitations of the detectors are described in detail. Field applications show the unique usefulness of silicon radiation detectors

[en] Following previous work in particle physics, the MPI Semiconductor Laboratory has been founded with the purpose of developing novel semiconductor detectors for particle physics and X-ray astronomy. A short description of the already successfully concluded development of pn-CCDs for focal imaging in X-ray astronomy (XMM/Newton X-ray Observatory) is given and the much more demanding requirements in a future X-ray astronomy experiment (XEUS) are discussed. A new type of pixel detector is proposed which will be capable to meet these requirements. It is based on the 'DEPleted-Field Effect Transistor (DEPFET)' principle. The device operated on a fully depleted silicon wafer allows an internal charge amplification directly above the position where the signal conversion takes place. A very low gate capacitance of the DEPMOS transistor leads to low noise amplification. In contrast to CCDs, neither transfer loss nor 'out-of-time events' can occur in a DEPFET-array. A very interesting feature is the possibility of repeated non-destructive readout which can be used for noise reduction even for the low-frequency (1/f) noise. This type of detector will also have its applications in linear collider experiments

[en] The development of new detection systems based on arrays of Silicon Drift Detectors (SDD) used for new X-ray spectroscopy applications, like X-ray Holography and EXAFS experiments, requires the realization of suitable integrated low-noise electronics for the readout of the detector signals. Recently, a new VLSI time-variant signal processor called ROTOR has been developed. Despite its time-variant nature ROTOR is capable of correctly processing events randomly distributed along the time axis, thanks to the employment of the Concurrent Wheel Technique (CWT). Two different possible solutions for the ROTOR chip have been developed, both suitable for the CWT working mechanism. A theoretical comparison between the noise performances of the two filtering methods has been carried out and is presented in this work

[en] The development of a novel charge coupled device, the fully depleted pn-junction CCD (pn-CCD), has been completed. It will be used as focal plane detector for X-ray imaging and spectroscopy on two scientific satellite missions, XMM and ABRIXAS. A comprehensive, quantitative study of the radiation damage in the pn-CCD was performed with 10-MeV protons, 5.5 MeV alpha-particles and soft X-rays. The irradiation by soft X-rays with a dose of 23 krad(Si) caused no performance degradation. The A-center (oxygen-vacancy defect) and the divacancy trap were generated by particle irradiations which are both inevitably in silicon. But no other trap type affected the charge transfer in the tested operating temperature range between 75 K and 240 K. The formation probability of the dominant trap type, the A-center, is presented for proton and alpha-particle irradiation. The authors have measured the effects of particle fluence and temperature on trap generation as well as the variation of trap concentration. The measured energy resolution of the irradiated pn-CCDs proves the high radiation hardness of this type of charge coupled device. The full width at half maximum of the Mn-K_α line (5894 eV) was increased from 135 eV to 175 eV (FWHM/E = 3%) after exposure to a 10-MeV proton fluence of 2 · 10⁹ cm^-2. The results differ from that of other charge coupled devices because of the different detector concept and fabrication process

[en] Charge transfer loss due to deep level traps in CCDs is a common phenomenon. In single-photon counting CCDs for X-ray detection, the charge loss results in a degradation of spectroscopic resolution. The transfer loss of a signal depends on various parameters like temperature, number of transferred charges, number of charges in the preceding signals and the elapsed time between these signals. Each signal has to be corrected individually with respect to these parameters. An algorithm based on first principles of capture and emission, that allows a fast determination of the transfer loss is presented. The model was tested on calibration data of an X-ray pn-CCD of the EPIC consortium for XMM. The model describes the experimental data very well

[en] Various new detector types have been derived from the silicon drift chamber (SDC) principle proposed by Gatti and Rehak in 1983: - Large-area two-dimensional silicon drift chambers (4x4 cm²) with an integrated voltage divider for position measurements of minimum ionizing particles in high-energy physics experiments. - Low capacitive drift photodiodes and spiral drift chambers for energy measurements (detection of scintillation light, direct detection of X-rays and ionizing particles). - Fully depleted pn CCDs for position and energy measurements of ionizing radiation. Focal-plane detectors of this type are foreseen for the X-ray multimirror (XMM) satellite experiment. - JFETs, compatible with the detector process on high-resistivity silicon. The benefit of the low readout-anode capacitance can only be fully exploited if on-chip electronics with suitable amplifying devices are integrated in the silicon detector. - A novel pixel detector with nondestructive readout of the signal charges and internal amplification. It is introduced with the help of device simulations and first test results. Finally - as the only non-SDC type device - a double-sided silicon strip detector with capacitive readout and a new method of integrated bias coupling is presented to be used as tracking detector for minimum ionizing particles in LEP experiments. (orig.)

[en] The quantum efficiency of back-illuminated silicon pn-junction detectors is evaluated in the spectral range from 1.2 to 1400 eV, comprising the near infrared, visible, ultraviolet and soft X-ray regions. The calibrations are performed with the same device over the entire measured range, thus eliminating technological variations of the entrance window. Recent technological developments have yielded detectors with near-theoretical quantum efficiencies

[en] Published in summary form only

[en] Published in summary form only