Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare

Abstract Dealing with large-scale application of semiconductor detectors, one of the keystones is to ensure the robustness and long-term electrical stability. A phenomenon that can compromise the performance of a system based on these detectors is the dependence of the punch-through effect on the environmental conditions. In this paper we investigated the influence of humidity on the punch-through in microstrip and drift silicon detectors. Simulations and laboratory measurements on different prototypes were performed. Data analysis allowed to determine a special solution for the design of the cathode metallisation mask that reduces in a substantial way the evolution of the punch-through voltage due to humidity influence.