Semiconductor Detector

A semiconductor detector is a device that uses a semiconductor (usually silicon or germanium) to detect traversing charged particles or the absorption of photons. In the field of particle physics, these detectors are usually known as silicon detectors. When their sensitive structures are based on a single diode, they are called semiconductor diode detectors. When they contain many diodes with different functions, the more general term semiconductor detector is used. Semiconductor detectors have found broad application during recent decades, in particular for gamma and X-ray spectrometry and as particle detectors.