DOI: 

Optoelektron. napìvprovìd. teh. 61, 44-61(2026)

V.V. Minakov, V.V. Taranov, S.O. Boychun, S.M. Levytskyi. 

CdZnTe-BASED IONIZING RADIATION DETECTORS: CURRENT STATUS AND PROSPECTS (REVIEW) 

This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state and future prospects of room-temperature semiconductor detectors based on cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe, CZT) and the quaternary compound CdZnTeSe (CZTS). The evolution of crystal growth technologies is examined, with particular emphasis on the transition from high-pressure vertical Bridgman (HPVB) to traveling heater method (THM) enhanced by accelerated crucible rotation technique (ACRT), which has significantly reduced structural defects, improved compositional uniformity, and increased the yield of detector-grade material.

Special attention is given to overcoming the long-standing problem of hole trapping through the implementation of unipolar charge collection geometries (coplanar grid, pixelated, virtual Frisch-grid) and the adoption of CZTS, where selenium addition (y ≈ 0.02–0.07) suppresses tellurium inclusions by a factor of 5–10, eliminates subgrain boundary networks, and achieves material yield exceeding 90 %. A detailed classification of detectors is presented according to base material, electrode geometry, charge collection mechanism, detector configuration, and application area. Experimental results demonstrate energy resolution of 0.77–1.1 % FWHM at 662 keV without correction for CZTS detectors in virtual Frisch-grid and pixelated array configurations.

Modern readout ASICs (HEXITEC 2.0, Timepix4, SIRIO) and advanced digital signal processing techniques are analyzed, including machine learning approaches (convolutional neural networks, physics-informed ML) for depth-of-interaction correction, charge-sharing recovery, and pile-up rejection at high count rates. The review highlights key application domains: photon-counting computed tomography (with 20–40 % dose reduction and material decomposition capability), portable isotope identification devices, high-energy dosimetry (>6 MeV), and space astrophysics instrumentation.

Future directions include the complete replacement of energy-integrating CT with photon-counting systems, integration of on-chip machine learning into intelligent pixel matrices, and further scaling of large-volume CZTS arrays for next-generation radiation detection platforms. The transition from CZT to CZTS is identified as the most promising pathway toward sub-0.8 % resolution detectors at industrial scale.

Keywords: CdZnTe, CdZnTeSe, room-temperature radiation detectors, virtual Frisch-grid, hole trapping, photon-counting CT, machine learning, THM crystal growth, energy resolution, charge transport.