A method for the detection of ionizing events utilizing a co-planar grids sensor comprising a semiconductor substrate, cathode electrode, collecting grid and non-collecting grid. The semiconductor substrate is sensitive to ionizing radiation. A voltage less than 0 Volts is applied to the cathode electrode. A voltage greater than the voltage applied to the cathode is applied to the non-collecting grid. A voltage greater than the voltage applied to the non-collecting grid is applied to the collecting grid. The collecting grid and the non-collecting grid are summed and subtracted creating a sum and difference respectively. The difference and sum are divided creating a ratio. A gain coefficient factor for each depth (distance between the ionizing event and the collecting grid) is determined, whereby the difference between the collecting electrode and the non-collecting electrode multiplied by the corresponding gain coefficient is the depth corrected energy of an ionizing event. Therefore, the energy of each ionizing event is the difference between the collecting grid and the non-collecting grid multiplied by the corresponding gain coefficient. The depth of the ionizing event can also be determined from the ratio.