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Fluorescence events

Simulating CCD response we assume that for each photon with energy greater than the silicon absorption K edge (1839 eV) absorbed inside silicon, there is a 0.043 probability to emit a fluorescent photon with the characteristic energy of 1.739 keV. We neglect the fluorescence from other elements (oxygen and nitrogen) as well as L-shell fluorescence of silicon due to a very small probabilities of these events. The fluorescent photons are emitted uniformly in all directions and the program calclulates the spatial angles using a random number generator. After that the absorption probability for the fluorescent photons is calculated in the same manner as for a regular photon. If the fluorescent photon leaves silicon substrate or interacts several pixels away from the site of interaction of the primary photon, an escape event will be detected. The model makes an accurate prediction of the escape peak amplitude.

An amplitude of the fluorescent peak was much harder to reproduce. The key to the correct model of the flourescent peak, especially at energies close to the Si absorption edge, is taking into account fluorescence from the gates. Immediately above Si edge absorption in the polysilicon gates becomes a significant factor. Of the absorbed photons 4.3% produce a fluorescent photon and roughly half of them goes into the bulk of silicon and gets detected, while another half is emitted into the upper hemisphere and is lost. Unlike flourescent photons that are emitted from the bulk silicon, the leftover charge corresponding to the difference in energy between primary and fluorescent photon cannot be detected when it is formed in the polysilicon gate. This means that approximately half of the photons fluoresced from the gates will be found in the fluorescent peak, while only a tiny fraction of the ones from the bulk will end up in the fluorescent peak. Because of this flourescence from the gates is by far a dominant factor in forming the flourescence peak. On Fig. 4.128 are shown the amplitudes of the escape and flourescence peaks both from experimental data and simulated eventlists. The experimental data had been collected at a synchrotron ring at BESSY using Crystal Monochromator Beamline with a device w102c3.

Solid lines on Fig. 4.128 show the model predictions. An agreement between the data and the model is good. A discrepancy in the amplitudes of the fluorescence peak reported previously in the Preliminary Calibration Report is now resolved. It was caused mostly by not taking into account fluorescence from the gate structure.
 

Figure 4.128: Intensities of experimentally measured escape (*) and fluorescence (+) features as a function of energy. Solid lines are the model predictions.



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Please address comments and questions to Dr. John Nousek ( nousek@astro.psu.edu )