In this paper, a theoretical description of the shape of pulses initiated by α-particles and protons penetrating in planar cadmium telluride (CdTe) detectors is presented and the dependence of the shape of pulses on the energy of charged particles, as well as, the thickness of the detectors are discussed. The results of our calculations indicate that for protons and α-particles with energies above ~5 MeV a strong correlation exists between the specific ionization of the charged particles and the shape of output charge pulses, making planar CdTe detectors a promising candidate for the discrimination of charged particles in nuclear physics experiments.
Key words: Charged particle detection; CdTe detectors; Pulse-shape discrimination
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