Computer simulation of the detection mechanism in diamond detectors

Diamondʹs many extreme properties, such as its radiation and corrosion resistance, large bandgap, high electron and hole mobility, make it an attractive semiconductor for particle detectors. Diamond may be used as a detector of ionising radiation: the ionisation produces excess charge carriers (electrons and holes) which can be detected in an external circuit if an electric field is applied across the diamond. e built up a computer simulation of the detection mechanism in diamond detectors using the C programming language. The diamond film (diamond detector) is simulated by a grid; at this stage the grid is two dimensional. Different electrode configurations for the detector are considered. Alpha particles produce a large number of electron–hole pairs and their path to the electrodes can be calculated. By applying the Shockley–Ramo theorem, we calculate the total induced charge on the electrodes. In particular, we investigate the role of the geometry of the system in the build-up of the signal.