New method for estimating detector efficiency for charged particles with Diamond Light Source

Abstract Detector prototypes are commonly characterised in testbeams, either using charged particles or X-rays. Charged particles are used to quantify detector performance in terms of absolute efficiency, while X-rays can provide additional information about the detector structure. This paper presents an alternative approach to calculating charged particle efficiencies, using the results of an X-ray testbeam of the mini-MALTA CMOS prototype at Diamond Light Source, and additional laboratory measurements. Results are presented for an unirradiated and an irradiated sample and compared to the results of charged particle testbeams at SPS and ELSA. The extrapolated efficiencies are in agreement with the measured values. Additionally, the extrapolated efficiency maps provide more insight about the location of the pixel inefficiencies, due to the better spatial resolution of the X-ray testbeam.