Lead is considered to be the one of the preferred materials to shield against radiation due to its high atomic number and density. Can the atomic number and density be applied to materials for radiation detectors such as semiconductor radiation detectors as well?
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$\begingroup$ Keep in mind - that is a very broad statement and does not take into account the varieties of radiation or their particular energy. $\endgroup$– Jon CusterCommented Mar 24, 2020 at 13:42
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In very general terms, the density of the material plays a role:
Semiconductor detectors are essentially solid-state analogs of gas-filled ionization chambers. Because the solid detector materials used in semiconductor detectors are 2000 to 5000 times more dense than gases , they have much better stopping power and are much more efficient detectors for x rays and γ rays.
Comparing it with lead is comparing apples with oranges, as it is the ability to semi-conduct that is important to make a detector. The stopping power necessarily puts a limit, up to what energy, the detector will be reliable.
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$\begingroup$ I see, thanks for the information. I am currently doing research on SiC radiation detector to detect beta particles. Recently i read about interactions of beta particles with materials and I came across the term backscattering. It says backscattering constitute a significant flaw in the response of the detector which been designed to collect electron energy spectra. Is it significant enough that it could give the detectors inaccurate readings? $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 25, 2020 at 5:35
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$\begingroup$ This would depend on the exact detector, the energy of the betas , maybe you should contact an author of the article you read.. sorry not to beableto help $\endgroup$– anna vCommented Mar 25, 2020 at 8:51