Characterisation of Silicon Pad Diodes

Silicon pad sensors are used in high luminosity particle detectors because of their excellent timing resolution, radiation tolerance and possible high granularity. The effect of different design decisions on detector performance can be investigated nondestructively through electronic characterisation of the sensor diodes. Methods for making accurate measurements of leakage current and cell capacitance are described using both a standard approach with tungsten needles and an automated approach with a custom multiplexer and probing setup.