Optimization of ≤ 200μm pitch CZT detectors for future high-resolution X-ray instrumentation in astrophysics

Cadmium Zinc Telluride and Cadmium Telluride are the detector materials of choice for the detection of X-rays in the X-ray energy band E ≥ 5 keV with excellent spatial and spectral resolution and without cryogenic cooling. Owing to recent breakthroughs in grazing incidence mirror technology, next-generation hard X-ray telescopes will achieve angular resolution between 5 and 10 arc seconds-about an order of magnitude better than that of the NuSTAR hard X-ray telescope. As a consequence, the next generation of X-ray telescopes will require pixelated X-ray detectors with pixels on a grid with a lattice constant of ≤ 200μm. Additional detector requirements include a low energy threshold of less than 5 keV and an energy resolution of less than one keV. The science drivers for a high angular-resolution X-ray mission include studies and measurements of black hole spins, the cosmic evolution of super-massive black holes, active galactic nuclei feedback, and the behaviour of matter at very high densities. In this contribution, we report on our R & D studies with the goal to optimise small-pixel Cadmium Zinc Telluride and Cadmium Telluride detectors.