Search

The peak brilliance reached by today's Free-Electron Laser and Synchrotron light sources requires photon detectors matching their output intensity and other characteristics in order to fully realiz ...

Reduced edge or "edgeless" detector design offers seamless tileability of sensors for a wide range of applications from particle physics to synchrotron and free election laser (FEL) facilities and medical imaging. Combined with through-silicon-via (TSV) technology, this would allow reduced material trackers for particle physics and an increase in the active area for synchrotron and FEL pixel detector systems. In order to quantify the performance of different edgeless fabrication methods, 2 edgeless detectors were characterized at the Diamond Light Source using an 11 μm FWHM 15 keV micro-focused X-ray beam. The devices under test were: a 150 μm thick silicon active edge pixel sensor fabricated at VTT and bump-bonded to a Medipix2 ROIC; and a 300 μm thick silicon strip sensor fabricated at CIS with edge reduction performed by SCIPP and the NRL and wire bonded to an ALiBaVa readout system. Sub-pixel resolution of the 55 μm active edge pixels was achieved. Further scans showed no drop in charge collection recorded between the centre and edge pixels, with a maximum deviation of 5% in charge collection between scanned edge pixels. Scans across the cleaved and standard guard ring edges of the strip detector also show no reduction in charge collection. These results indicate techniques such as the scribe, cleave and passivate (SCP) and active edge processes offer real potential for reduced edge, tiled sensors for imaging detection applications.

The PERCIVAL soft X-ray imager is being developed by DESY, RAL, Elettra, DLS, and PAL to address the challenges at high brilliance Light Sources such as new-generation Synchrotrons and Free Electron Lasers. Typical requirements for detector systems at these sources are high frame rates, large dynamic range, single-photon counting capability with low probability of false positives, high quantum efficiency, and (multi)-mega-pixel arrangements. PERCIVAL is a monolithic active pixel sensor, based on CMOS technology. It is designed for the soft X-ray regime and, therefore, it is post-processed in order to achieve high quantum efficiency in its primary energy range (250 eV to 1 keV) . This work will report on the latest experimental results on charge collection efficiency obtained for multiple back-side-illuminated test sensors during two campaigns, at the P04 beam-line at PETRA III, and the CiPo beam-line at Elettra, spanning most of the primary energy range as well as testing the performance for photon-energies below 250 eV . In addition, XPS surface analysis was used to cross-check the obtained results.

Timepix3 chip is a new ASIC specifically designed to readout hybrid pixel detectors. The main purpose of Timepix3 is to measure the time of arrival of events. This characteristic can be exploited very effectively to develop detectors for time resolved experiments at synchrotron radiation facilities. In order to investigate how the ASIC can be applied to synchrotron experiments the Merlin readout system, developed at Diamond for the Medipix3 ASIC, has been adapted to readout the Timepix3 ASIC. The first tests of the ASIC with pulse injection and with alpha particles show that its behaviour is consistent with its nominal characteristics.

The present work reports on the design and implementation of a novel portable X-ray beam diagnostics (XBPM) device. The device is transparent to the X-ray beam and provides real-time measurements of beam position, intensity, and size. The measurement principle is based on a pinhole camera which records scattered radiation from a Kapton foil which is placed in the beam path. The use of hybrid detectors (Medipix3) that feature a virtually noiseless readout system with capability of single photon detection and energy resolving power enables the diagnostics with a better resolution and higher sensitivity compared to the use of traditional indirect X-ray detection schemes. We describe the detailed system design, which consists of a vacuum compatible focal plane sensor array, a sensor conditioning and readout board and a heterogeneous data processing unit, which also acts as a network server that handles network communications with clients. The readout protocol for the Medipix3 sensor is implemented using field programmable gate array (FPGA) logic resulting in a versatile and scalable system that is capable of performing advanced functions such as data compression techniques and feature extraction. For the system performance measurements, we equipped the instrument with a single Medipix3 die, bump bonded to a Si sensor, rather than four for which it was designed. Without data compression, it is capable of acquiring magnified images and profiles of synchrotron X-ray beams at a transfer rate through Ethernet of 27 frames/s for one Medipix3 die.

A simulation toolkit developed for use at Diamond Light Source is presented, accompanied with experimental validation using a silicon pixel-array sensor coupled to a Medipix3RX chip controlled via the Merlin Readout System. The simulation makes use of Geant4, where photons are tracked in order to determine their position of interaction and energy deposition. Further to this, a Finite Element Methods package, Comsol, is used to model the Charge Induction Efficiencies of various sensors. Results are coupled to Geant4 simulations to provide an accurate method for computing the signals generated on each pixel within the sensor and then an algorithm to model the front-end electronics of the device. The validity of the simulation toolkit is tested by investigating charge-sharing effects using a Medipix3RX chip bump-bonded to a silicon pixel-array sensor. The dependence of the imaging parameters, on the energy threshold, is presented from both simulation and experiment for the Medipix3RX chip operated with and without the charge sharing compensation circuitry enabled. This simulation toolkit can be used to calculate image quality parameters for the next generation of detectors, including CdTe, as well as to improve data corrections on existing detectors on synchrotron beamlines.

This contribution reports on the development of a new high rate readout system for the Medipix3 hybrid pixel ASIC developed by the Detector Group at Diamond Light Source. It details the current functionality of the system and initial results from tests on Diamond's B16 beamline. The Merlin system is based on a National Instruments PXI/FlexRIO system running a Xilinx Virtex5 FPGA. It is capable of recording Medipix3 256 by 256 by 12 bit data frames at over 1 kHz in bursts of 1200 frames and running at over 100 Hz continuously to disk or over a TCP/IP link. It is compatible with the standard Medipix3 single chipboards developed at CERN and is capable of driving them over cable lengths of up to 10 m depending on the data rate required. In addition to a standalone graphical interface, a system of remote TCP/IP control and data transfer has been developed to allow easy integration with third party control systems and scripting languages. Two Merlin systems are being deployed on the B16 and I16 beamlines at Diamond and the system has been integrated with the EPICS/GDA control systems used. Results from trigger synchronisation, fast burst and high rate tests made on B16 in March are reported and demonstrate an encouraging reliability and timing accuracy. In addition to normal high resolution imaging applications of Medipix3, the results indicate the system could profitably be used in `pump and probe' style experiments, where a very accurate, high frame rate is especially beneficial. In addition to these two systems, Merlin is being used by the Detector Group to test the Excalibur 16 chip hybrid modules, and by the LHCb VELO Pixel Upgrade group in their forthcoming testbeams. Additionally the contribution looks forward to further developments and improvements in the system, including full rate quad chip readout capability, multi-FPGA support, long distance optical communication and further functionality enhancements built on the capabilities of the Medipix3 chips.

We compare a new CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) to a Princeton Instruments PIXIS-XO: 2048B Charge Coupled Device (CCD) with soft X-rays tested in a synchrotron beam line at the Diamond Light Source (DLS). Despite CCDs being established in the field of scientific imaging, APS are an innovative technology that offers advantages over CCDs. These include faster readout, higher operational temperature, in-pixel electronics for advanced image processing and reduced manufacturing cost.\ud \ud The APS employed was the Vanilla sensor designed by the MI3 collaboration and funded by an RCUK Basic technology grant. This sensor has 520 x 520 square pixels, of size 25 μm on each side. The sensor can operate at a full frame readout of up to 20 Hz. The sensor had been back-thinned, to the epitaxial layer. This was the first time that a back-thinned APS had been demonstrated at a beam line at DLS.\ud \ud In the synchrotron experiment soft X-rays with an energy of approximately 708 eV were used to produce a diffraction pattern from a permalloy sample. The pattern was imaged at a range of integration times with both sensors. The CCD had to be operated at a temperature of -55°C whereas the Vanilla was operated over a temperature range from 20°C to -10°C. We show that the APS detector can operate with frame rates up to two hundred times faster than the CCD, without excessive degradation of image quality. The signal to noise of the APS is shown to be the same as that of the CCD at identical integration times and the response is shown to be linear, with no charge blooming effects.\ud \ud The experiment has allowed a direct comparison of back thinned APS and CCDs in a real soft x-ray synchrotron experiment.

The imaging of soft X-ray images is typically performed with charge coupled devices (CCDs). However, these can have limited readout speed, dynamic range and can also require significant cooling to obtain the required signal to noise ratio. Active pixel sensors (APS) are able to combine faster readout speeds and higher dynamic range with in-pixel intelligence to allow region of interest readout and adaptive gain. To obtain high detection efficiency and 100% pixel fill factor the sensor is back thinned and illuminated from the backside. We report on the characterization of a back-thinned APS (Vanilla); an array of 512 ? 512 pixels of size 25 ? 25 microns. The sensor has a 12-bit digital output for full frame mode, as well as being able to be readout in a fully programmable Region-Of-Interest (ROI) analogue mode. In full frame, the sensor can operate at a readout rate of more than 100 frames per second. Characterization of the detector was carried out through the analysis of photon transfer curves to yield measurements of the full well capacity, noise levels, gain constants and device linearity. Spectral response measurements were made to show the improvement in detection efficiency using a backthinned sensor. A typical synchrotron experiment was performed at the Diamond Light Source (DLS) using Soft X-rays ( ~ 700 eV) to produce a diffraction pattern from a permalloy sample. The pattern was imaged at a range of frame rates, up to 20Hz, and a range of temperatures for both a back-thinned Vanilla and a Princeton PIXIS-XO: 2048B CCD. The results of which are compared. The detection efficiency of the APS is shown to be comparable to the CCD for a given frame rate (0.1Hz), with similar noise levels. We suggest that the back-thinned APS are a viable technology choice for the direct detection of soft X-rays for synchrotron applications.

Hybrid silicon photon-counting detectors are becoming standard equipment for many synchrotron applications. The latest in the Medipix family of read-out chips designed as part of the Medipix Collaboration at CERN is the Medipix3, which while maintaining the same pixel size as its predecessor, offers increased functionality and operating modes. The active area of the Medipix3 chip is approx 14mm × 14mm (containing 256 × 256 pixels) which is not large enough for many detector applications, this results in the need to tile many sensors and chips. As a first step on the road to develop such a detector, it was decided to build a prototype single chip readout system to gain the necessary experience in operating a Medipix3 chip. To provide a flexible learning and development tool it was decided to build an interface based on the recently released FlexRIOTM system from National Instruments and to use the LabVIEWTM graphical programming environment. This system and the achieved performance are described in this paper.