The development and characterization of a prototype temperature tolerant (capable of operation up to at least 100 ​°C) particle counting electron spectrometer with an AlInP detector is reported. This is the first time that the response of an AlInP detector to electrons (β⁻ particles) has been reported. The detector was a custom made circular mesa (200 ​μm diameter) Al_0.52In_0.48P p⁺-i-n⁺ (2 ​μm i layer) photodiode; this was coupled to a custom made low-noise charge-sensitive preamplifier and otherwise standard readout electronics. The detector was electrically characterized and the spectrometer was investigated for its response to illumination from a⁶³Ni radioisotope β⁻ particle source over the temperature range 100 ​°C–20 ​°C. The absorbed electron energy within the active region (i layer) of the AlInP detector and the expected to be detected spectra were calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. Comparisons between the simulated and measured spectra indicated that the response of the spectrometer was in agreement with the Monte Carlo model. Future generations of electron spectrometers of this type are expected to be useful for space science missions where the instrumentation would be subject to high temperatures and intense radiation (e.g. to study the radiolytic processes in comets close to perihelion). In order to inform development of future generations of AlInP electron detectors for such applications, the response of the prototype instrument to illumination with solar wind electrons was modelled within the experimentally verified energy range of the detector; avenues of future development to improve AlInP detector performance, identified from the presently reported results, was investigated and discussed.

报告了具有 AlInP 探测器的原型耐温（能够在至少 100°C 下运行）粒子计数电子光谱仪的开发和表征。这是首次报道了 AlInP 探测器对电子（β ^-粒子）的响应。检测器是定制的圆形台面（直径 200 μm）Al _0.52 In _0.48 P p ⁺ -in ⁺（2 μm i 层）光电二极管；这与定制的低噪声电荷敏感前置放大器和其他标准读出电子设备相结合。对探测器进行电学表征，并研究了光谱仪对⁶³ Ni 放射性同位素 β ^-照射的响应100°C–20°C 温度范围内的粒子源。AlInP 检测器的有源区（i 层）内吸收的电子能量和预期检测到的光谱使用蒙特卡罗模拟计算。模拟光谱和测量光谱之间的比较表明光谱仪的响应与蒙特卡罗模型一致。未来几代这种类型的电子能谱仪有望用于空间科学任务，其中仪器将受到高温和强辐射（例如研究彗星接近近日点的辐射分解过程）。为了为此类应用的下一代 AlInP 电子探测器的开发提供信息，原型仪器对太阳风电子照射的响应在探测器的实验验证能量范围内建模；研究和讨论了从目前报告的结果中确定的提高 AlInP 探测器性能的未来发展途径。