Laser and alpha particle characterization of floating-base BJT detector

In this work, we investigate the detection properties of existing prototypes of BJT detectors operated with floating base. We report about results of two functional tests. The charge-collection properties of BJT detectors were evaluated by means of a pulsed laser setup. The response to α-particles emitted from radioactive 241Am source are also presented. Experimental results show that current gains of about 450 with response times in the order of 50 μs are preserved even in this non-standard operation mode, in spite of a non-optimized structure.