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X-ray fluorescence images acquired using the Maia large solid-angle detector array and integrated real-time processor on the X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy (XFM) beamline at the Australian Synchrotron capture fine detail in complex natural samples with images beyond 100M pixels. Quantitative methods permit real-time display of deconvoluted element images and for the acquisition of large area XFM images and 3D datasets for fluorescence tomography and chemical state (XANES) imaging. This paper outlines the Maia system and analytical methods and describes the use of the large detector array, with a wide range of X-ray take-off angles, to provide sensitivity to the depth of features, which is used to provide an imaging depth contrast and to determine the depth of rare precious metal particles in complex geological samples.

Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) is the detector material of choice for the detection of X-rays in the 10 keV-1MeV energy band with excellent spatial and energy resolutions and without cryogenic cooling. In this contribution, we report on recent results of the CZT detector development program and several astrophysical experiments which make use of CZT detectors. In the first part of the paper, we discuss the performance of pixel and cross-strip CZT detectors read out with an ASIC developed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Our pixel detectors achieve some of the best energy resolutions reported in the literature. Cross-strip detectors are found to give an inferior performance and we investigate the reason for this performance difference. We also present results from a precision measurement of the effect of a steering grid on multi-pixel events obtained with a 200 micrometer collimator. In the second part of the paper, we describe the design and performance of the hard X-ray polarimeter X-Calibur. The polarimeter uses a 14 cm long scintillator scatterer, surrounded by an assembly of 32 2-5 mm thick CZT detectors. We discuss the sensitivity of the polarimeter to measure the linear polarization of 10 keV-80 keV X-rays on short and long balloon flights and results from testing the polarimeter in the laboratory.

Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) continues to progress in quality and cost as a material for the detection of hard X-ray and gamma-ray photons with excellent spatial and energy resolutions. We are developing large-volume (0.5×3.9×3.9 cm 3 ) cross-strip CZT detectors with the objective to combine the excellent performance achieved so far only with pixelated CZT detectors with a reduced number of readout channels. In this contribution, we discuss the spectroscopic performance of large volume CZT detectors from the company Orbotech when contacted as pixelated detectors. Subsequently, we present results obtained when the same substrates where contacted with cross-strip contacts. Finally, we use the results from a simulation study to discuss the optimization of the design of the strip contacts and the readout electronics.

New results from studies of coplanar-grid CdZnTe (CZT) detectors are presented. The coplanar-grid detectors were investigated by using a highly collimated X-ray beam available at Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source and by applying a pulse-shape analysis. The coplanar-grid detector operates as a single-carrier device. Despite the fact that its operational principle is well known and has been investigated by many groups in the past, we found some new details that may explain the performance limits of these types of devices. The experimental results have been confirmed by extensive computer modeling.