Fabrication and Characterization of MiniPPC Germanium Detectors

P-type point contact (PPC) germanium detectors are a preferred choice for several rare event searches.  They have the advantage of superb energy resolution and excellent pulse shape discrimination capabilities.  A number of groups are working to understand and improve the properties of PPC detectors. Such studies can be limited by either cost or availability of suitable detectors.  We are working to design and fabricate smaller PPC Ge detectors as a cost-effective solution to this problem.  These “miniPPC” detectors can be used to efficiently study charge trapping, temperature dependence, or electronic response within specific environments.  Additionally, optimization of the miniPPC fabrication process may produce a scalable technique for producing cost-effective full-size PPC detectors.  Collaborators within the PIRE-GEMADARC collaboration are working together to optimize the fabrication and characterization of these detectors.  Simulations of miniPPC type designs have been performed using signal generation software “siggen” to determine the properties of these smaller detectors, and these results are presented here.