A new method of carrier trapping time measurement

A new method of measuring carrier trapping time by a simple analysis of the current pulse shape is proposed and demonstrated for irradiated silicon de tectors. This method which we call Exponentiated Charge Crossing (ECC) requ ires no knowledge of either the electric field profile in the detector or o f the relation between the carrier drift velocity and the electric field. I t is general enough to be valid not only for solid-state particle detectors but also for other devices such as some gaseous and liquid detectors. The results obtained by the proposed method are consistent with those obtained by an earlier method. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.