Charge collection characterization of a 3D silicon radiation detector by using 3D simulations

In 3D detectors, the electrodes are processed within the bulk of the sensor material. Therefore, the signal charge is collected independently of the wafer thickness and the collection process is faster due to shorter distances between the charge collection electrodes as compared to a planar detector structure. In this paper, 3D simulations are used to assess the performance of a 3D detector structure in terms of charge sharing, efficiency and speed of charge collection, surface charge, location of the primary interaction and the bias voltage. The measured current pulse is proposed to be delayed due to the resistance–capacitance (RC) product induced by the variation of the serial resistance of the pixel electrode depending on the depth of the primary interaction. Extensive simulations are carried out to characterize the 3D detector structures and to verify the proposed explanation for the delay of the current pulse. A method for testing the hypothesis experimentally is suggested.