Temperature dependence compensation of X-ray spectrometry with MiniPIX Timepix3 SiC detector

Timepix3 is a hybrid pixel radiation detector, from the CERN-designed Timepix family, which contains 65.536 pixels. The detectors based on Timepix3 read-out chips have started to be used in a wide range of applications, such as medicine, particle physics, neutron detection and space applications. For applications in harsh environments such as space, particle therapy and nuclear power engineering, silicon carbide (SiC) stands as suitable semiconductor sensor thanks to its chemical stability, wide temperature operation range and enhanced radiation hardness. Newly developed MiniPIX Timepix3 SiC cameras are undergoing physical and operating tests for various applications. Since their main applications are in harsh environments where they are exposed to a wide range of temperatures, it is important to examine and describe the behaviour of these detectors under the influence of different temperatures. Consequently, it is necessary to compensate these temperature effects. Thus, this study investigates the temperature dependence of the spectral (deposited energy) response of the Timepix3 detectors equipped with a 4H-SiC sensor over a temperature range of 10 degrees C to 60 degrees C, with a per-pixel energy calibration performed at 20 degrees C. The detector was exposed to fluorescence X-rays with energies between 8 keU and 58 keU and between 31 keU and 40 keU from the radioactive sources 133Ba and 152Eu, respectively. It was found that with increasing temperature there is a shift of the energy spectra to lower values, which increases with increasing incident energy. A compensation method is proposed to correct for the distortion in the measured energy range.