A comparative response study of a Medipix3 silicon detector using X-rays and electrons

Abstract The Medipix family of detectors have found broad use in applications outside of high energy physics. One such application is in scanning electron microscopy in which energies range from 5–30 keV. While X-ray characterisation in this energy range is routine, electron characterisation is not well documented. This work presents a comparison of a characterisation of a Medipix3 silicon detector using both X-rays and electrons in the 5–30 keV energy range. X-ray characterisation was performed using X-ray flouresence. To perform electron characterisation a novel technique was implemented: the electron mirror. The results of this study show a difference in response between X-rays and electrons of equivalent energy, due to the energy loss in detector entrance windows and implants. Simulations were performed using AllPix 2 which did not show the same difference in response. The possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.