Limitations of the Pulse-Shape Technique for Particle Discrimination in Planar Si Detectors

Limitations of the pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) technique - a promising method to identify the charged particIes stopped in planar Si-detectors - have been investigated. The particle resolution turned out to be basically determined by resistivity fluctuations in the buk silicon which cause the charge-collection time to depend on the point of impact. Detector maps showing these fluctuations have been measured and are discussed. Furthermore we present a simple method to test the performance of detectors with respect to PSD. Another limitation of the PSD technique is the finite energy threshold for particle identification. This threshold is caused by an unexpected decrease of the total charge-collection time for ions with a short range, in spite of the fact that the particle tracks are located in a region of very low electric field.