Measurement of the temporal and spectral characteristics of silicon p-i-n photodiodes in the soft x-ray range

A procedure is briefly described for investigating the temporal and spectral characteristics of a soft x-ray detector in the range of photon energies from a few tenths of an electron-volt to more than a thousand electron-volts. The measured characteristics (signal rise time, time resolution, and absolute responsivity) are given, along with parameters (thicknesses of the contact layer, dead layer, and sensitive layer) determined from the measurement results for certain commercial brands of fast silicon p-i-n photodiodes from various manufacturers (Siemens, Hamamatsu, Motorola, and NIIIT/Moscow), which can be used in x-ray plasma diagnostic apparatus with a time resolution of 1 ns or better. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 83–88 (May 1999)