Simulation of silicon strip detector for space-based cosmic ray experiments with Allpix²

Purpose Silicon strip detectors are widely applied in space-based cosmic ray experiments and most of the silicon strip detectors deploy an analytical method for its digitization. However, the analytical method simplifies the physical process of propagation of electrons/holes generated inside the silicon detector by particles that pass through the detector. In order to simulate silicon strip detectors with different configurations comprehensively, the Allpix², an open-source software, is used to study those processes.Methods When particle passes through the silicon detector, energy is deposited based on Geant4 simulation, and electron-hole pairs are created due to the deposited energy. The Allpix² simulation method and the analytical method are both used to calculate or simulate the diffusion and drift processes that electron-hole pairs propagate inside the silicon detector under internal electric field, and the number of electrons/holes accumulated at implanted strips are counted.Results and conclusion The number of electrons/holes accumulated along the implanted strips are compared between the Allpix² simulation method and analytical method for different incident angles and different incident positions, they are found to be in good agreement for proton particles, while there are discrepancies for carbon and silicon particles. The Allpix² software may be an important tool for the study of response of silicon strip detectors in space. The charge resolution of single implanted strip predicted by Allpix² simulation method is about 4.7% for proton, 3.8% for carbon and 1.6% for silicon particles for an incident angle of 45².