Semiconductor radiation detector with thin film platinum alloyed electrode

1. A semiconductor radiation detector comprising:

a body of compound semiconducting material, said compound conducting material comprising a compound of cadmium, zinc, and telluride (CZT); and

an electrode disposed on at least one surface of the body, said electrode comprising a first layer of an alloy of a first element and a second element, wherein said first element is platinum and said second element is selected from the group consisting of chromium, cobalt, gallium, germanium, indium, molybdenum, tantalum, vanadium, zirconium, manganese, iron, and magnesium, and wherein the electrode has a Vickers hardness of at least as great as 100.

2. The radiation detector of claim 1 , wherein the first layer has a hardness greater than that of platinum.

3. The radiation detector of claim 2 , wherein the first layer has a Vickers hardness greater than 100.

4. The radiation detector of claim 1 , wherein the electrode includes a second layer deposited on a side of the first layer opposite the compound semiconducting material, said second layer comprising one of the group: gold and platinum.

5. The radiation detector of claim 4 , wherein the electrode includes a third layer sandwiched between the body of the compound semiconducting material and the first layer, said third layer comprised of one of the following elements: platinum, nickel, palladium, gold, molybdenum, tungsten, iron, chromium, titanium, aluminum, silver, tantalum, indium, iridium, ruthenium, and cesium.

6. The radiation detector of claim 1 , wherein the electrode includes a second layer sandwiched between the body of compound semiconducting material and the first layer, said second layer comprised of one of the following elements: nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, iron, chromium, titanium, aluminum, tantalum, indium, iridium, and cesium.

7. The radiation detector of claim 1 , wherein, when the second element is either chromium, cobalt, gallium, germanium, molybdenum, tantalum, vanadium, zirconium, manganese, iron, or magnesium, the compound is comprised of between 1 wt. % and 5 wt. % of the second element.

8. The radiation detector of claim 7 , wherein the compound is comprised of between 1 wt. % and 3 wt. % of the second element.

9. The radiation detector of claim 1 , wherein, when the second element is indium, the alloy comprises between 1 wt. % and 10 wt. % of indium.

10. The radiation detector of claim 9 , wherein the alloy comprises between 4 wt. % and 6 wt. of indium.

11. The radiation detector of claim 1 , wherein the alloy comprises between 10 wt. % and 12 wt. % of the second element.

12. The radiation detector of claim 1 , wherein:

the first layer is formed by a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process; and

a source of vapor for the PVD process is either:

a single source comprised of suitable levels of the first and second elements; or

separate first and second sources of the first and second elements, respectively.

13. The radiation detector of claim 1 , wherein the first layer comprises a plurality of sublayers, each of which is comprised of a different one of the second elements and platinum as the first element.

14. The radiation detector of claim 4 , wherein each layer is formed by a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process.

15. The radiation detector of claim 5 , wherein each layer is formed by a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process.

16. The radiation detector of claim 6 , wherein each layer is formed by a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process.