PRELIMINARY MEASUREMENTS OF THE LOW ENERGY DETECTION EFFICIENCY OF A Si(Li) DETECTOR FOR PIXE APPLICATIONS

The low energy detection efficiency of a Si(Li) detector is measured in this work. The continuous bremsstrahlung spectrum produced by bombarding a thick C target with an electron beam is used as the standard radiation source. The bremsstrahlung spectrum for a thick C target is calculated from tabulated data assuming the thick target to consist of an array of thin layers applying the respective attenuation correction for photons emitted in each thin layer. The bremsstrahlung spectra for three incident electron energies (10, 12 and 15 keV) are measured and compared with the calculated ones. The relative efficiency is obtained and compared with a calculated efficiency based on the detector specifications. The efficiency measured for those three incident electron energies on the thick target are consistent with each other. The region limited by 2 keV < k < 6 keV, where k is the X-ray energy, exhibits a significant discrepancy between measurements and calculated efficiencies. A possible explanation of the observed discrepancy is that the real thickness of the Si dead layer is thinner than the one reported by the manufacturer. The obtained efficiency values are valid within the range 0.8 keV < k < 12.5 keV.