A large area avalanche photodiode as the VUV photosensor for gas proportional scintillation counters

Abstract

The feasibility of using UV-sensitive Large Area Avalanche Photodiodes (LAAPD) as the photosensor in xenon Gas Proportional Scintillation Counters (GPSC) is investigated. It is shown that the LAAPD can successfully replace the photomultiplier tube as the UV photosensor of GPSCs without degradation of the detector energy resolution, enabling the development of compact GPSCs. Energy resolutions of 7.9% and 4.4% are obtained with a xenon-filled GPSC for 5.9 and 22.1 keV X-rays, respectively.