A study of temperature dependence of some relevant parameters performed on a set of CdTe detectors

Cadmium telluride is a semiconductor material which is now widely used in both spectroscopic and imaging applications. Among its properties, the most advantageous is its ability to operate at room-temperatures, so as to avoid the need for bulk cooling devices. Nevertheless, a quantitative evaluation of the temperature dependance of the detectors response is needed in order to establish a temperature range for safe operation. In this paper, some parameters are evaluated at temperatures ranging from -35°C up to 40°C with an energy source of 511 keV for a set of three spectroscopy grade CdTe detectors. The data obtained seem to indicate a significant temperature independence below O°C, while at temperatures over 10°C spectra degradations occur