The ^{55}Fe X-ray Energy Response of Mercury Cadmium Telluride Near-Infrared Detector Arrays

TL;DR

This paper presents a calibration method using ^{55}Fe X-rays to measure the response of HgCdTe near-infrared detectors, providing key parameters for detector performance assessment.

Contribution

The study calibrates the ^{55}Fe X-ray response of HgCdTe detectors, determining the pair production energy and response, aiding in detector design and calibration accuracy.

Findings

Each Kα X-ray generates approximately 2273 electrons.

The pair-production energy is measured at 2.61 eV.

Uncertainty is mainly due to conversion gain measurement.

Abstract

A technique involving ^{55}Fe X-rays provides a straightforward method to measure the response of a detector. The detector's response can lead directly to a calculation of the conversion gain (e^- ADU^{-1}), as well as aid detector design and performance studies. We calibrate the ^{55}Fe X-ray energy response and pair production energy of HgCdTe using 8 HST WFC3 1.7 \micron flight grade detectors. The results show that each K$\alpha$ X-ray generates 2273 \pm 137 electrons, which corresponds to a pair-production energy of 2.61 \pm 0.16 eV. The uncertainties are dominated by our knowledge of the conversion gain. In future studies, we plan to eliminate this uncertainty by directly measuring conversion gain at very low light levels.