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Journal of synchrotron radiation 28(1), 131 - 145 (2021). doi:10.1107/S1600577520013958, In this paper the back-side-illuminated Percival 2-Megapixel (P2M) detector is presented, along with its characterization by means of optical and X-ray photons. For the first time, the response of the system to soft X-rays (250 eV to 1 keV) is presented. The main performance parameters of the first detector are measured, assessing the capabilities in terms of noise, dynamic range and single-photon discrimination capability. Present limitations and coming improvements are discussed., Published by Wiley-Blackwell, [S.l.]

Radiation measurements 140, 106459 (2021). doi:10.1016/j.radmeas.2020.106459, At synchrotron facilities, many X-ray imaging and diffraction experiments require pixel detectors with minimal noise, high speed and reasonably small pixel size, all of which can be achieved with the Medipix ASIC family. So, ESRF, Diamond Light Source and DESY have developed detector systems based on Medipix. In this paper, we report on these developments, with an emphasis on the challenges involved building readout systems and the potential of the Medipix family ASICs in this field of research., Published by Elsevier Science, Amsterdam [u.a.]

2019 26th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems (ICECS), Genoa, Italy, 27 Nov 2019 - 29 Nov 2019; ... IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems proceedings 51, 50 (2019). doi:10.1109/ICECS46596.2019.8964996, High brilliance synchrotrons and Free Electron Lasers (FELs) require high performing detector systems to realise their full potential. High dynamic range, low noise and high frame rate are all of great importance. In this paper we describe the P2M CMOS sensor, designed for soft X-ray detection at such facilities. We refer to previous work on test devices demonstrating a noise of 5Me- and quantum efficiency of >80% at 400eV (and with good sensitivity even below this value). Initial test results on the first Front Side Illuminated (FSI) 2 Megapixel device are also presented, and an outline of future work is described., Published by Inst. of Electr. and Electronics Engineers, New York, N.Y.

In this paper, we are presenting the Percival detector, a monolithic CMOS Imager for detection of soft x-rays in Synchrotron Rings and Free Electron Lasers. The imager consists in a 2D array of many (2M) small (27um pitch) pixels, without dead or blind zones in the imaging area. The imager achieves low noise and high dynamic range by means of an adaptive-gain in-pixel circuitry, that has been validated on prototypes. The imager features on-chip Analogue-to-Digital conversion to 12+1 bits, and has a readout speed which is compatible with most of Free Electron Laser Facilities. For direct detection of low-energy x-rays, the imager is back-illuminated and post-processed to achieve 100% fill factor.

Diamond Light Source (DLS) I20-Scanning is a high flux X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) beamline optimized for challenging samples, operating between 4keV and 20keV. The principal detector used for collecting XAS in fluorescence mode is a Canberra 64-pixel Monolithic Segmented Hyper Pure Germanium Detector (HPGe) historically partnered with the STFC Xspress2 Digital Pulse Processor (DPP). Prior signal analysis had shown that key parameters such as Energy Resolution and Peak-to-Background ratio are compromised by pixel-to-pixel crosstalk within the detector, especially at higher count rates (>250kcps per pixel). The DLS Detector Group have developed the new Xspress4 DPP to address such issues. This results in typically a factor 3-7 increase in detector system count rate for the same Energy Resolution and Peak-to-Background ratio compared to the previous state-of-the-art DPP. An overview of the complete detector system is given and recent results obtained during the commissioning on the beamline are shown. Further, comparative results from challenging experiments are also shown, demonstrating the improved performance attainable at the previous high count rate by partnering legacy HPGe Detectors with the latest DPP technology.

This paper focuses on the evaluation of operational conditions such as temperature, exposure time and flux on the polarization of a Schottky electron collection CdTe detector. A Schottky ${\rm e}^ - $ collection CdTe Medipix3RX hybrid pixel detector was developed as a part of the CALIPSO-HIZPAD2 EU project. The $128 \times 128$ pixel matrix and 0.75 mm thick CdTe sensor bump-bonded to Medipix3RX readout chips enabled the study of the polarization effects. Single and quad module Medipix3RX chips were used which had $128 \times 128$ and $256 \times 256$ pixel matrices, respectively. This study reports the sensor-level and pixel-level polarization effects of the detector obtained from a laboratory X-ray source. We report that the sensor-level polarization is highly dependent on temperature, flux and exposure time. Furthermore, the study of pixel-level polarization effects led to identification of a new type of pixel behaviour that is characterised by three distinct phases and, thus, named “tri-phase” (3-P) pixels. The 3-P pixels were the dominant cause of degradation of the flat-field image uniformity under high flux operation. A new method of identifying the optimum operational conditions that utilises a criterion related to the 3-P pixels is proposed. A generated optimum operational conditions chart under the new method is reported. The criterion is used for bias voltage reset depolarization of the detector. The method successfully represented the dependency of polarization on temperature, flux and exposure time and was reproducible for multiple sensors. Operating the detector under the 3-P pixel criterion resulted in the total efficiency not falling below 95%.

Multi-element germanium detectors for X-ray fluorescence are widely used in synchrotron experiments and in particular in XAFS experiments. This paper presents the construction and characterization of a demonstrator built to investigate the viability of multi-element monolithic germanium detectors equipped with CMOS front-end electronics. Semikon Detector GmbH fabricated a germanium sensor segmented with a pad pattern with pad size $1\times 1~\hbox{mm}^2$ . 16 channels were instrumented with the CUBE preamplifiers developed at XGLab Srl. The detector was tested with radioactive sources and with the synchrotron X-ray beam of Diamond. The results showed spectra with energy resolution satisfactory for XAFS experiments but with a considerable tail. The low energy tail was proved to be due to charge sharing. In addition the spectra showed the peak stability as a function of counting rate better than 1% for rate up to 838 kcps. The non-linearity of the peak position vs. energy was estimated to be a maximum of 0.13% No evidence of charge loss in the crystal was identified. This work proved that this technology is a viable option to improve the throughput of germanium fluorescence detectors as long as methods to reduce events leading to charge sharing are in place.

The Lancelot beam position and profile monitor records the scattered radiation off a thin, low-density foil, which passes through a pinhole perpendicular to the path of the beam and is detected by a Medipix3RX sensor. This arrangement does not expose the detector to the direct beam at synchrotrons and results in a negligible drop in flux downstream of the module. It allows for magnified images of the beam to be acquired in real time with high signal-to-noise ratios, enabling measurements of tiny displacements in the position of the centroid of approximately 1 μm. It also provides a means for independently measuring the photon energy of the incident monoenergetic photon beam. A constant frame rate of up to 245 Hz is achieved. The results of measurements with two Lancelot detectors installed in different environments at the Diamond Light Source are presented and their performance is discussed.

In this paper the design and implementation of a novel portable X-ray imager system is presented. The design features a direct X-ray detection scheme by making use of a hybrid detector (Medipix3RX). Taking advantages of the capabilities of the Medipix3RX, like a high resolution, zero dead-time, single photon detection and charge-sharing mode, the imager has a better resolution and higher sensitivity compared to using traditional indirect detection schemes. A detailed description of the system is presented, which consists of a vacuum chamber containing the sensor, an electronic board for temperature management, conditioning and readout of the sensor and a data processing unit which also handles network connection and allow communication with clients by acting as a server. A field programmable gate array (FPGA) device is used to implement the readout protocol for the Medipix3RX, apart from the readout the FPGA can perform complex image processing functions such as feature extraction, histogram, profiling and image compression at high speeds. The temperature of the sensor is monitored and controlled through a PID algorithm making use of a Peltier cooler, improving the energy resolution and response stability of the sensor. Without implementing data compression techniques, the system is capable of transferring 680 profiles/s or 240 images/s in a continuous mode. Implementation of equalization procedures and tests on colour mode are presented in this paper. For the experimental measurements the Medipix3RX sensor was used with a Silicon layer. One of the tested applications of the system is as an X-ray beam position monitor (XBPM) device for synchrotron applications. The XBPM allows a non-destructive real time measurement of the beam position, size and intensity. A Kapton foil is placed in the beam path scattering radiation towards a pinhole camera setup that allows the sensor to obtain an image of the beam. By using profiles of the synchrotron X-ray beam, high frequency movement of the beam position can be studied, up to 340 Hz. The system is capable of realizing an independent energy measure of the beam by using the Medipix3RX variable energy threshold feature.

We report on the production of an array of active edge silicon sensors as a prototype of a large array. Four Medipix3RX.1 chips were bump bonded to four single chip sized Advacam active edge n-on-n sensors. These detectors were then mounted into a 2 by 2 array and tested on B16 at Diamond Light Source with an x-ray beam spot of 2um. The results from these tests, compared with optical metrology give confidence that these sensors are sensitive to the physical edge of the sensor, with only a modest loss of efficiency in the final two rows of pixels. We present the efficiency maps recorded with the microfocus beam and a sample powder diffraction measurement. These results give confidence that this sensor technology can be used in much larger arrays of detectors at synchrotron light sources., 11 pages, 12 figures

Recent advances in the growth of CdZnTe material have allowed the development of small pixel, spectroscopic, X-ray imaging detectors. These detectors have applications in a diverse range of fields such as medical, security and industrial sectors. As the size of the pixels decreases relative to the detector thickness, the probability that charge is shared between multiple pixels increases due to the non zero width of the charge clouds drifting through the detector. These charge sharing events will result in a degradation of the spectroscopic performance of detectors and must be considered when analyzing the detector response. In this paper charge sharing and charge loss in a 250 $\mu$ m pitch CdZnTe pixel detector has been investigated using a mono-chromatic X-ray beam at the Diamond Light Source, U.K. Using a 20 $\mu$ m beam diameter the detector response has been mapped for X-ray energies both above (40 keV) and below (26 keV) the material $K$ -shell absorption energies to study charge sharing and the role of fluorescence X-rays in these events.

iWoRiD 2015, Hamburg, Germany, 28 Jun 2015 - 2 Jul 2015; Journal of Instrumentation 11(02), C02090 (2016). doi:10.1088/1748-0221/11/02/C02090, PERCIVAL ("Pixelated Energy Resolving CMOS Imager, Versatile And Large") is a monolithic active pixel sensor (MAPS) based on CMOS technology. Is being developed by DESY, RAL/STFC, Elettra, DLS, and PAL to address the various requirements of detectors at synchrotron radiation sources and Free Electron Lasers (FELs) in the soft X-ray regime. These requirements include high frame rates and FELs base-rate compatibility, large dynamic range, single-photon counting capability with low probability of false positives, high quantum efficiency (QE), and (multi-)megapixel arrangements with good spatial resolution. Small-scale back-side-illuminated (BSI) prototype systems are undergoing detailed testing with X-rays and optical photons, in preparation of submission of a larger sensor. A first BSI processed prototype was tested in 2014 and a preliminary result—first detection of 350eV photons with some pixel types of PERCIVAL—reported at this meeting a year ago. Subsequent more detailed analysis revealed a very low QE and pointed to contamination as a possible cause. In the past year, BSI-processed chips on two more wafers were tested and their response to soft X-ray evaluated. We report here the improved charge collection efficiency (CCE) of different PERCIVAL pixel types for 400eV soft X-rays together with Airy patterns, response to a flat field, and noise performance for such a newly BSI-processed prototype sensor., Published by Inst. of Physics, London

The design and performance characterization of a new light-weight and compact X-ray scintillation detector is presented. The detectors are intended for use on the new I11 powder diffraction beamline at the third-generation Diamond synchrotron facility where X-ray beams of high photon brightness are generated by insertion devices. The performance characteristics of these detection units were measured first using a radioactive source (efficiency of detection and background count rate) and then synchrotron X-rays (peak stability, light yield linearity and response consistency). Here, the results obtained from these tests are reported, and the suitability of the design for the Diamond powder beamline is demonstrated by presenting diffraction data obtained from a silicon powder standard using a prototype multicrystal analyser stage.

With the increased brilliance of state-of-the-art synchrotron radiation sources and the advent of free-electron lasers (FELs) enabling revolutionary science with EUV to X-ray photons comes an urgent need for suitable photon imaging detectors. Requirements include high frame rates, very large dynamic range, single-photon sensitivity with low probability of false positives and (multi)-megapixels. At DESY, one ongoing development project – in collaboration with RAL/STFC, Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Diamond, and Pohang Accelerator Laboratory – is the CMOS-based soft X-ray imager PERCIVAL. PERCIVAL is a monolithic active-pixel sensor back-thinned to access its primary energy range of 250 eV to 1 keV with target efficiencies above 90%. According to preliminary specifications, the roughly 10 cm × 10 cm, 3.5k × 3.7k monolithic sensor will operate at frame rates up to 120 Hz (commensurate with most FELs) and use multiple gains within 27 µm pixels to measure 1 to ∼100000 (500 eV) simultaneously arriving photons. DESY is also leading the development of the AGIPD, a high-speed detector based on hybrid pixel technology intended for use at the European XFEL. This system is being developed in collaboration with PSI, University of Hamburg, and University of Bonn. The AGIPD allows single-pulse imaging at 4.5 MHz frame rate into a 352-frame buffer, with a dynamic range allowing single-photon detection and detection of more than 10000 photons at 12.4 keV in the same image. Modules of 65k pixels each are configured to make up (multi)megapixel cameras. This review describes the AGIPD and the PERCIVAL concepts and systems, including some recent results and a summary of their current status. It also gives a short overview over other FEL-relevant developments where the Photon Science Detector Group at DESY is involved.

Silicon sensor technologies with reduced dead area at the sensor's perimeter are under development at a number of institutes. Several fabrication methods for sensors which are sensitive close to the physical edge of the device are under investigation utilising techniques such as active-edges, passivated edges and current-terminating rings. Such technologies offer the goal of a seamlessly tiled detection surface with minimum dead space between the individual modules. In order to quantify the performance of different geometries and different bulk and implant types, characterisation of several sensors fabricated using active-edge technology were performed at the B16 beam line of the Diamond Light Source. The sensors were fabricated by VTT and bump-bonded to Timepix ROICs. They were 100 and 200 μ m thick sensors, with the last pixel-to-edge distance of either 50 or 100 μ m. The sensors were fabricated as either n-on-n or n-on-p type devices. Using 15 keV monochromatic X-rays with a beam spot of 2.5 μ m, the performance at the outer edge and corners pixels of the sensors was evaluated at three bias voltages. The results indicate a significant change in the charge collection properties between the edge and 5th (up to 275 μ m) from edge pixel for the 200 μ m thick n-on-n sensor. The edge pixel performance of the 100 μ m thick n-on-p sensors is affected only for the last two pixels (up to 110 μ m) subject to biasing conditions. Imaging characteristics of all sensor types investigated are stable over time and the non-uniformities can be minimised by flat-field corrections. The results from the synchrotron tests combined with lab measurements are presented along with an explanation of the observed effects.

With the increased brilliance of state-of-the-art Synchrotron radiation sources and the advent of Free Electron Lasers enabling revolutionary science with EUV to X-ray photons comes an urgent need for suitable photon imaging detectors. Requirements include high frame rates, very large dynamic range, single-photon counting capability with low probability of false positives, and (multi)-megapixels. PERCIVAL (``Pixelated Energy Resolving CMOS Imager, Versatile and Large'') is currently being developed by a collaboration of DESY, RAL, Elettra and DLS to address this need for the soft X-ray regime. PERCIVAL is a monolithic active pixel sensor (MAPS), i.e. based on CMOS technology. It will be back-thinned to access its primary energy range of 250 eV to 1 keV with target efficiencies above 90%. According to its preliminary specifications, the roughly 10 × 10 cm2, 3520 × 3710 pixel monolithic sensor will operate at frame rates up to 120 Hz (commensurate with most FELs) and use multiple gains within its 27 μm pixels to measure (e.g. at 500 eV) 1 to ~ 105 simultaneously-arriving photons. Currently, small-scale front-illuminated prototype systems (160 × 210 pixels) are undergoing detailed testing with visible-light as well as X-ray photons.

Over the last decade, synchrotron radiation sources have seen a significant increase in brilliance, and the advent of free electron lasers has made entire new research fields accessible to investigations with X-rays. These advances in light source capabilities have resulted not only in a host of scientific advances and discoveries, but also in a need for a new generation of X-ray imaging detectors that can match the sources' capabilities in terms of frame rate and image dynamic range while recording image information with fine granularity over a large - preferably uninterrupted - (multi)megapixel area with single-photon sensitivity. Developing such next-generation imagers is both costly and time-consuming, and the requirements at many photon science facilities are similar enough to invite a collaborative effort. The Percival ("Pixellated Energy Resolving CMOS Imager, Versatile And Large") imager is being developed by a collaboration of DESY, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), Elettra, and Diamond Light Source (DLS) to answer this need for the soft X-ray regime

Our goal is to provide the scientific community with a large (10cm × 10cm) pixellated detector featuring a large dynamic range (1–105 photons), good spatial resolution (27µm), good Quantum Efficiency (QE) in the low energy range (250eV–1keV), variable readout speed (up to 120 frames/s), i.e. with characteristics compatible with user needs at today's of low-energy Free Electron Lasers (FEL) and synchrotron sources.

In this work the results on imaging and spectroscopic performances of 14 × 14 × 1 mm CdTe detectors with 55 × 55 μm and 110 × 110 μm pixel pitch bump-bonded to a Timepix chip are presented. The performance of the 110 × 110 μm pixel detector was evaluated at the extreme conditions beam line I15 of the Diamond Light Source. The energy of X-rays was set between 25 and 77 keV. The beam was collimated through the edge slits to 20 μm FWHM incident in the middle of the pixel. The detector was operated in the time-over-threshold mode, allowing direct energy measurement. Energy in the neighbouring pixels was summed for spectra reconstruction. Energy resolution at 77 keV was found to be ΔE/E = 3.9%.\ud \ud Comparative imaging and energy resolution studies were carried out between two pixel size detectors with a fluorescence target X-ray tube and radioactive sources. The 110 × 110 μm pixel detector exhibited systematically better energy resolution in comparison to 55 × 55 μm. An imaging performance of 55 × 55 μm pixellated CdTe detector was assessed using the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) technique and compared to the larger pixel. A considerable degradation in MTF was observed for bias voltages below -300 V. Significant room for improvement of the detector performance was identified both for imaging and spectroscopy and is discussed.

Medipix3 is the latest generation of photon counting readout chips of the Medipix family. With the same dimensions as Medipix2 (256 x 256 pixels of 55 mu m x 55 mu m pitch each), Medipix3 is however implemented in an 8-layer metallization 0.13 mu m CMOS technology which leads to an increase in the functionality associated with each pixel over Medipix2. One of the new operational modes implemented in the front-end architecture is the Charge Summing Mode (CSM). This mode consists of a charge reconstruction and hit allocation algorithm which eliminates event-by-event the low energy counts produced by charge-shared events between adjacent pixels. The present work focuses on the study of the CSM mode and compares it to the Single Pixel Mode (SPM) which is the conventional readout method for these kind of detectors and it is also implemented in Medipix3. Tests of a Medipix3 chip bump-bonded to a 300 mu m thick silicon photodiode sensor were performed at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron to evaluate the performance of the new Medipix chip. Studies showed that when Medipix3 is operated in CSM mode, it generates a single count per detected event and consequently the charge sharing effect between adjacent pixels is eliminated. However in CSM mode, it was also observed that an incorrect allocation of X-rays counts in the pixels occurred due to an unexpectedly high pixel-to-pixel threshold variation. The present experiment helped to better understand the CSM operating mode and to redesign the Medipix3 to overcome this pixel-to-pixel mismatch.

Three-dimensional (3D) silicon sensors offer potential advantages over standard planar sensors for radiation hardness in future high energy physics experiments and reduced charge-sharing for X-ray applications, but may introduce inefficiencies due to the columnar electrodes. These inefficiencies are probed by studying variations in response across a unit pixel cell in a 55μm pitch double-sided 3D pixel sensor bump bonded to TimePix and Medipix2 readout ASICs. Two complementary characterisation techniques are discussed: the first uses a custom built telescope and a 120GeV pion beam from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at CERN; the second employs a novel technique to illuminate the sensor with a micro-focused synchrotron X-ray beam at the Diamond Light Source, UK. For a pion beam incident perpendicular to the sensor plane an overall pixel efficiency of 93.0±0.5% is measured. After a 10o rotation of the device the effect of the columnar region becomes negligible and the overall efficiency rises to 99.8±0.5%. The double-sided 3D sensor shows significantly reduced charge sharing to neighbouring pixels compared to the planar device. The charge sharing results obtained from the X-ray beam study of the 3D sensor are shown to agree with a simple simulation in which charge diffusion is neglected. The devices tested are found to be compatible with having a region in which no charge is collected centred on the electrode columns and of radius 7.6±0.6μm. Charge collection above and below the columnar electrodes in the double-sided 3D sensor is observed. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.

X-ray photon-counting detectors consisting of a silicon pixel array sensor bump-bonded to a CMOS electronic readout chip offer several advantages over traditional X-ray detection technologies used for synchrotron applications. They offer high frame rate, dynamic range, count rate capability and signal-to-noise ratio. A survey of the requirements for future synchrotron detectors carried out at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron highlighted the needs for detectors with a pixel size of the order of 50 mu m. Reducing the pixel size leads to an increase of charge-sharing events between adjacent pixels and, therefore, to a degradation of the energy resolution and image quality of the detector. This effect was observed with MEDIPIX2, a photon-counting readout chip with a pixel size of 55 mu m. The lastest generation of the MEDIPIX family, MEDIPIX3, is designed to overcome this charge-sharing effect in an implemented readout operating mode referred to as Charge Summing Mode. MEDIPIX3 has the same pixel size as MEDIPIX2, but it is implemented in an 8-metal 0.13 mu m CMOS technology which enables increased functionality per pixel. The present work focuses on the study of the charge-sharing effect when the MEDIPIX3 is operated in Charge Summing Mode compared to the conventional readout mode, referred to as Single Pixel Mode. Tests of a standard silicon photodiode array bump-bonded to MEDIPIX3 were performed in beamline B16 at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron. A monochromatic micro-focused beam of 2.9 mu m x 2.2 mu m size at 15keV was used to scan a cluster of nine pixels in order to study the charge collection and X-ray count allocation process for each readout mode, Single Pixel Mode and Charge Summing Mode. The study showed that charge-shared events were eliminated when Medipix3 was operated in Charge Summing Mode.

In this article we report on the use micro-focus synchrotron X-ray radiation and pion beams to compare the detection efficiencies and charge sharing properties of novel 3D detectors to that of the current planar technology. Detector substrates are bump-bonded to the Medipx2 and Timepix chips. 55μm square pixel maps of the detection efficiencies have been produced using X-ray and MIP beams. For X-rays, a drop of 3-4% detection efficiency over the pixel area was found due to the central electrode. The corner electrodes show no degradation in efficiency compared to that of the planar device. For MIPs a drop of 0.5% in efficiency due to the central electrode was observed. Evidence of a considerable reduction in charge sharing in the 3D detectors compared to the planar devices is also shown. ©2009 IEEE.

Coherent X-ray diffraction experiments on synchrotron X-ray beamlines require detectors with high spatial resolution and large detection area. The read-out chip developed by the MEDIPIX3 collaboration offers a small pixel size of 55 microns resulting in a very high spatial resolution when coupled to a direct X-ray conversion segmented silicon sensor. MEDIPIX3 assemblies present also the advantages of hybrid pixel detectors working in single photon counting mode: noiseless imaging, large dynamic range, extremely high frame rate. The EXCALIBUR detector is under development for the X-ray Coherence and Imaging Beamline I13 of the Diamond Light Source. This new detector consists of three modules, each with 16 MEDIPIX3 chips which can be read-out at 100 frames per second in continuous mode or 1000 frames per second in burst mode. In each module, the sensor is a large single silicon die covering 2 rows of 8 individual MEDIPIX3 read-out chips and provides a continuous active detection region within a module. Each module includes 1 million solder bumps connecting the 55 microns pixels of the silicon sensor to the 55 microns pixels of the 16 MEDIPIX3 read-out chips. The detection area of the 3-module EXCALIBUR detector is 115 mm × 100 mm with a small 6.8 mm wide inactive region between modules. Each detector module is connected to 2 FPGA read-out boards via a flexi-rigid circuit to allow a fully parallel read-out of the 16 MEDIPIX3 chips. The 6 FPGA read-out boards used in the EXCALIBUR detector are interfaced to 6 computing nodes via 10Gbit/s fibre-optic links to maintain the very high frame-rate capability. The standard suite of EPICS control software is used to operate the detector and to integrate it with the Diamond Light Source beamline software environment. This article describes the design, fabrication and characterisation of the MEDIPIX3-based modules composing the EXCALIBUR detector.

A novel X-ray Beam Position Monitor has been designed and implemented on the Multimode InfraRed Imaging And Microspectroscopy (MIRIAM) beamline at Diamond. Installed in the B22 Front End and using no optical elements except for filters, it provides sub-micrometre position sensitivity and sub-microradiant angular sensitivity to Bending Magnet source vertical movements. By sampling at 100 kHz frequency, Fast Fourier Transform analysis is continuously displayed and any periodic components in the Synchrotron Radiation emission are revealed within the exceptional bandwidth of 50 kHz. Long term source drift in position or angle are monitored and recorded every 0.5 seconds.

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.

Progress on the development of GaAs solid state detectors is presented. 80% charge collection efficiency has been achieved, and double sided detectors with metal rectifying contacts have been tested. Measurements of capacitance and tests with SEM are giving more information on the behaviour of these devices.

Microstrip detectors have been constructed from gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafers made from undoped LEC (liquid-encapsulated Czochralski) semi-insulating substrate material. Tests were performed using minimum ionising particles to ascertain their properties as charged particle detectors. The results show that the devices work wellm, with good signal-to-noise ratio (typically 7). The effects of gamma ray and neutron irradiation have been studied and shown to be small up to levels exceeding 20 Mrad and 1014 n/cm2, respectively.