ABSTRACT
CdTe and CdZnTe semiconductor detectors are solid-state devices that provide direct conversion of the absorbed gamma-ray energy into an electronic signal. Many of the advantages of these detectors for medical applications stem from this inherent energy discrimination and photon-counting capability. In addition, the high radiation stopping power and resulting high detection efficiency, low leakage current at room temperature, good charge transport of the photon-generated carriers, and the favorable chemical and mechanical properties that allow the fabrication of pixelated detectors enable the manufacture of sophisticated X-ray and gamma-ray imaging devices that are compact and can be operated at room temperature and at low voltage.
