arXiv subjects

Anupama Karki

Publications and source records attributed to Anupama Karki.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Fabrication and characterization of lithium-diffused inverted coaxial point-contact HPGe detectors

High-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors with low capacitance, low electronic noise, and stable high-voltage operation are important for high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy and rare-event searches. We report the fabrication and characterization of two compact p-type inverted coaxial point-contact (ICPC) HPGe detectors, AK01 and AK02, produced from crystals grown at the University of South Dakota. Both devices use lithium-diffused $n^{+}$ outer contacts together with amorphous-Ge/Al point-contact electrodes. The principal advance is the implementation of this hybrid contact process on two independently fabricated USD-grown ICPC prototypes and the demonstration of stable electrical and spectroscopic operation. Both detectors exhibited picoampere-level leakage currents, operational depletion-voltage ranges of approximately 200--250~V (AK01) and 240--260~V (AK02), and estimated effective plateau capacitances of approximately 0.84 and 0.87~pF, respectively. Measurements with a $^{137}$Cs source yielded archived full-energy-peak FWHM values of 1.71 and 1.62~keV near 662~keV for AK01 and AK02, while AK02 yielded 1.04~keV FWHM at 59.5~keV with $^{241}$Am. Electric-field calculations reproduce the expected ICPC field configuration for the measured detector geometry. A Geant4 model of AK02 is used as a qualitative response study; its 0.8-mm Li-diffused inactive layer is an illustrative model assumption rather than a measured thickness, and its Gaussian broadening is constrained by the experimental resolution. The work therefore establishes the fabrication and operation of compact lithium-diffused ICPC prototypes while identifying quantitative inactive-layer characterization as an important next step.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2026

Post-diffusion cooling effects on Hall-derived active lithium donor profiles in high-purity germanium

Lithium (Li) diffusion is commonly used to form $n^{+}$ contacts in high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors, but the final electrically active donor profile can be sensitive to the post-diffusion thermal history. Li was introduced into HPGe coupons using a lithium-in-oil suspension and diffused for $30~\mathrm{min}$ at nominal temperatures of $240$--$310~^{\circ}\mathrm{C}$. Short- and long-cooling protocols were documented by measured witness-Ge cooling histories. Sequential material removal combined with Hall-effect measurements at $77~\mathrm{K}$ was used to reconstruct difference-derived apparent Hall donor profiles. Because Hall response in a nonuniform conducting layer is mobility weighted, these profiles are operational electrically active-donor metrics rather than direct local or total-Li concentration profiles. Complementary-error-function fits were used to obtain the extrapolated apparent intercept $N_{s,\mathrm{app}}$ and the apparent profile-width parameter $D_{\mathrm{app}}$. For the coupons studied, short cooling was associated with larger $N_{s,\mathrm{app}}$ and sharper profiles, whereas long cooling was associated with lower $N_{s,\mathrm{app}}$ and broader low-concentration tails. Fit-derived concentration-threshold depths likewise extended farther into the Ge bulk for the long-cooling coupons. These results show that the complete post-diffusion thermal history should be considered when parameterizing Hall-active Li-diffused $n^{+}$ contacts for HPGe detector fabrication.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2026

Hybrid-Contact Planar HPGe Process Vehicle Toward Ring-Contact Designs

Rare-event searches including dark matter, coherent elastic neutrino--nucleus scattering (CE$ν$NS), and neutrinoless double-beta decay (0$νββ$) require high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors with ultralow noise, stable backgrounds, and electrode geometries that can scale to larger single-crystal masses. Ring-contact (ring-and-groove) designs address scalability by shaping the electric field to preserve low-capacitance readout, but their nonplanar topology motivates a lithium-contact process that is compatible with conformal deposition and robust high-voltage operation. As a process demonstration toward future ring-contact prototypes, we fabricate and characterize a hybrid-contact planar HPGe device, KL01. Here, ``hybrid'' denotes an $n^{+}$ contact formed by an in-house lithium-suspension paint followed by controlled thermal diffusion, combined with an AJA-developed a-Ge/Al $p^{+}$ contact and a-Ge sidewall passivation. At 77~K the device exhibits pA-scale leakage current under kV bias, a depletion plateau near $V_{\mathrm{dep}}\approx 1300$~V, and energy resolutions of 1.57~keV FWHM at 59.5~keV and 2.57~keV FWHM at 662~keV. These results validate the compatibility of the paint-and-diffuse lithium process with thin-film a-Ge/Al contacts and establish a practical fabrication workflow to be extended to ring-and-groove electrodes for next-generation rare-event HPGe modules.

physics.ins-det↗