We will be using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) semiconductor detector in class. Here is a reference about the general characteristics of detectors (Ch. 5) and properties of semiconductor detectors (Ch. 10). It is not required that you read this, but we will probably talk about a few of the detector characteristics at some point during the class. If you are interested in getting a detailed explanation of how the HPGe detector works, then this reference is a great place to start. In class we will only have a conceptual discussion of how the HPGe detects the presence of a particle in the lab.