Semiconductor arrays with multiplexer readout for gamma-ray imaging: results for a 48 × 48 Ge array

We are developing a new kind of gamma-ray imaging device that has sub-millimeter spatial resolution and excellent energy resolution. The device is composed of a slab of semiconductor detector partitioned into an array of detector cells by photolithography and connected to a monolithic circuit chip called a multiplexer (MUX) for readout. Our application is for an ultra-high-resolution SPECT system for functional brain imaging using an injected radiotracer. We report here on results obtained with a Hughes 48 × 48 Ge PIN-photodiode array with MUX readout, originally developed as an infrared focal-plane-array imaging sensor. The device functions as an array of individual gamma-ray detectors with minimal interpixel crosstalk. Linearity of energy response is excellent up to at least 140 keV. The array exhibits excellent energy resolution, ∼ 2 keV at ≤ 140 keV or 1.5% FWHM at 140 keV. The energy resolution is dominated by MUX readout noise and so should improve with MUX optimization for gamma-ray detection. The spatial resolution of the 48 × 48 Ge array is essentially the same as the pixel spacing, 125 μm. The quantum efficiency is limited by the thin Ge detector (0.25 mm), but this approach is readily applicable to thicker Ge detectors and room-temperature semiconductor detectors such as CdTe, HgI₂ and CdZnTe.