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Spectrally selective X-ray imaging provides improved material and tissue discrimination in comparison with the state-of-the-art dual energy technologies that are commonly used in medical, industrial, and security applications. Cadmium telluride (CdTe)- and cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe)-based line scanners and small size two-dimensional X-ray sensors are emerging to the market, but the need for large-scale panels is axiomatic. In this study, a seamless CdTe tile was developed that enables the implementation of large-sized, energy selective X-ray detector panels. The developed tile consists of a $64\times64$ pixel array (with $150~\mu \text{m}$ pitch) with a necessary substrate, ASIC, and CdTe crystal. The performance of the constructed seamless tile was characterized by focusing on spectral resolution and stability. In addition, a simple pixel trimming method that automates the equalization of each energy selective pixel was developed and analyzed. The obtained results suggest that the proposed concept of seamless (tileable) detector structures is a feasible approach to scale up panel sizes. The seamless tile shows comparable spectral resolution and stability performance with commercial CdTe sensors. The effect of tile to tile variation, the realization of a large-scale panel, as well as the charge sharing performance were left out of the scope and are to be studied in the next phase.

An on-chip implementable algorithm for allocation of an X-ray photon imprint, called a hit, to a single pixel in the presence of charge sharing in a highly segmented pixel detector is described. Its proof-of-principle implementation is also given supported by the results of tests using a highly collimated X-ray photon beam from a synchrotron source. The algorithm handles asynchronous arrivals of X-ray photons. Activation of groups of pixels, comparisons of peak amplitudes of pulses within an active neighborhood and finally latching of the results of these comparisons constitute the three procedural steps of the algorithm. A grouping of pixels to one virtual pixel , that recovers composite signals and event driven strobes, to control comparisons of fractional signals between neighboring pixels are the actuators of the algorithm. The circuitry necessary to implement the algorithm requires an extensive inter-pixel connection grid of analog and digital signals, that are exchanged between pixels. A test-circuit implementation of the algorithm was achieved with a small array of $32\times 32$ pixels and the device was exposed to an 8 keV highly collimated to a diameter of 3- $\mu \text{m}$ X-ray beam. The results of these tests are given in this paper assessing physical implementation of the algorithm.

A combined X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and rheology study is carried out to capture the evolution of structure, fast particle-scale dynamics, and moduli (elastic and loss) at early times of gel formation near the fluid–gel boundary of a suspension of nanoparticles. The system is comprised of moderately concentrated suspensions of octadecyl silica in decalin (ϕ = 0.2) undergoing thermoreversible gelation. Near the gel boundary, the rate of gel formation is very sensitive to changes in attraction strength. However, we find that at different attraction strengths, the system goes through identical intermediate states of microscopic and macroscopic behavior, even though the absolute time needed to form a gel varies by orders of magnitude. We identify a single dimensionless time parameter, tw/tg, where tw is the wait time following the quench and tg is the rheologically determined gel time, that captures the similarity in gel formation at a range of attraction strengths. Following a temperature quench below the gel boundary, the system is initially fluidlike and forms diffusive clusters (∼8.5 times the particle diameter). After a lag-time, tL, clusters aggregate to form a network like structure which is characterized by the onset of mechanical rigidity and a rapid growth in microscopic relaxation times. At tg, the Baxter parameter obtained from adhesive hard sphere fits of the structure factor attains a constant value corresponding to the theoretical percolation boundary, thus demonstrating that gelation is percolation driven.

X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy is performed using a dual counter pixel array detector at a frame rate of 11.8 kHz with no readout dead-time., Small-angle scattering X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) studies were performed using a novel photon-counting pixel array detector with dual counters for each pixel. Each counter can be read out independently from the other to ensure there is no readout dead-time between the neighboring frames. A maximum frame rate of 11.8 kHz was achieved. Results on test samples show good agreement with simple diffusion. The potential of extending the time resolution of XPCS beyond the limit set by the detector frame rate using dual counters is also discussed.

The dynamics of concentrated suspensions of the eye-lens protein alpha crystallin have been measured using x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. Measurements were made at wave vectors corresponding to the first peak in the hard-sphere structure factor and volume fractions close to the critical volume fraction for the glass transition. Langevin dynamics simulations were also performed in parallel to the experiments. The intermediate scattering function f(q,τ) could be fit using a stretched exponential decay for both experiments and numerical simulations. The measured relaxation times show good agreement with simulations for polydisperse hard-sphere colloids.

The VIPIC1 readout integrated circuit was designed for X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy experiments that are typically performed using mono-energetic (8 keV) X-rays at a synchrotron radiation facility. The device is a pixel detector with sparsification and parallel readout from the groups, yielding high timing resolution. Recent improvements in bonding alignment of wafers resulted in deliveries of 3D bonded wafers. The stacks, bonded with both the Cu-Cu thermo-compression method and the Cu DBI bonding method, yielded operational devices that have been tested. Chips (with a pixel pitch of $80~\mu\hbox{m}$ ) were also bonded to silicon pixelated sensors (with a pixel pitch of $100~\mu\hbox{m}$ ) and the assemblies were exposed to X-ray sources for the first time. The paper focuses on the test results, including the calibrated noise (ENC) and the conversion gain. The noise measured corresponded to $39~\hbox{e}^ {- }$ and $70~\hbox{e}^ {- }$ , respectively for the readout channels that were not connected and connected to the sensor diodes. The conversion gain varied from 43 to $52~\mu\hbox{V/e}^ {- }$ as a function of the bias current in the front-end block. Essentially all the pixels on a small prototype were operational.

We have examined the formation and dissolution of gels composed of intermediate volume-fraction nanoparticles with temperature-dependent short-range attractions using small-angle x-ray scattering, x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, and rheology to obtain nanoscale and macroscale sensitivity to structure and dynamics. Gel formation after temperature quenches to the vicinity of the rheologically determined gel temperature, T_{gel}, was characterized via the slowdown of dynamics and changes in microstructure observed in the intensity autocorrelation functions and structure factor, respectively, as a function of quench depth (ΔT=T_{quench}-T_{gel}), wave vector, and formation time t_{f}. We find the wave-vector-dependent dynamics, microstructure, and rheology at a particular ΔT and t_{f} map to those at other ΔTs and t_{f}s via an effective scaling temperature, T_{s}. A single T_{s} applies to a broad range of ΔT and t_{f} but does depend on the particle size. The rate of formation implied by the scaling is a far stronger function of ΔT than expected from the attraction strength between colloids. We interpret this strong temperature dependence in terms of cooperative bonding required to form stable gels via energetically favored, local structures.

International audience; Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 ( $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 2.7--4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials ( $\mu_B > 500$ MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation of state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2024, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.

In this paper we present a measurement system for in vivo multichannel recordings of the electrophysiological activity of brain tissue. The system consists of penetrating Microelectrode Array (MEA), three versions of a Conditioning Module each equipped with different Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), Digitizer and PC Application for recorded data presentation and storage. The MEA consists of 64 15 μm diameter microelectrodes. The multichannel ASICs amplify and filter field and action potential signals. The custom-made Digitizer Module simultaneously acquires data from all channels with a 14 kS/s sample rate and 12 bit resolution. The resulting byte stream (about 2 MB/s) is transmitted to the PC via USB (Universal Serial Bus). Eventually the measurement data is decoded, presented to the system user and stored on a HDD. Preliminary system tests confirm its excellent performance (low input refereed noise, low power consumption, low area occupancy, ability of Action Potentials/Local Field Potentials separation). Our system equipped with multichannel ASICs meets requirements of many different neurobiology experiments.

The Vertically Integrated Photon Imaging Chip (VIPIC) project explores opportunities of the three-dimensional integration for imaging of X-rays. The design details of the VIPIC1 chip are presented and are followed by results of testing of the chip. The VIPIC1 chip was designed in a 130 nm process, in which through silicon vias are embedded right after the front-end-of-line processing. The integration of tiers is achieved by the Cu-Cu thermo-compression or Cu-based oxide-oxide bonding. The VIPIC1 readout integrated circuit was designed for high timing resolution, pixel based, X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy experiments typically using 8 keV X-rays at a synchrotron radiation facility. The design was done for bonding a Silicon pixel detector, however other materials can be serviced as long as the positive polarity of charge currents is respected.

The common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) strongly depends on matching and this effect is clearly visible in multichannel recording systems. Therefore, a method for improving the CMRR in multichannel recording integrated circuits (ICs) dedicated to biomedical experiments is reported. The method is based on balancing the amplifier's inputs using leakage currents. The proposed technique was verified in the 64 channel IC processed in CMOS 180 nm. The measurement results show that with use of the proposed balancing technique the CMRR is increased by more than 30 dB. Additionally, in comparison to conventional CMRR measurement methods, the proposed solution is attractive in three ways: its on-chip implementation simplicity, fast operation, and it is especially suitable for modern nanometre processes.

This paper presents a low noise low power neural recording amplifier that occupies a very small silicon area and is suitable to integrate with multielectrode arrays in cortical implants. We analyze main problems in neural recording systems processed in modern submicron technologies, i.e., leakage currents, ability to obtain very large and precisely controlled MOS based resistances and spread of the main system parameters from channel to channel. We also introduce methods allowing to mitigate them. Finally, we present methods allowing to calculate optimal channel dimensions of the recording channel's input transistors in order to obtain the lowest Input Referred Noise (IRN) for given power and area requirements. The proposed methodology has been applied in the 8-channel integrated recording ASIC dedicated to the broad range of neurobiology experiments. Each of the recording channels is equipped with the control register that enables to set main channel parameters independently. Thanks to this functionality, the user is capable of setting lower cut-off frequency within the range of 300 mHz-900 Hz. The upper cut-off frequency can be switched either to 30 Hz-290 Hz or 9 kHz, while the voltage gain can be set either to 260 V/V or 1000 V/V. A single recording channel is supplied with 1.8 V and consumes only 11 μW of power, while its input referred noise is equal to 4.4 μV resulting in NEF equal to 4.1.

We present a prototype chip built in a 40 nm CMOS process for readout of a pixel detector. The prototype chip has a matrix of 18×24 pixels with a pixel pitch of 100 µm. It can operate in both: the single photon counting (SPC) mode and the C8P1 mode. In the SPC mode using the high gain setting the measured ENC is 84 e− rms (for the peaking time of 48 ns), the gain is 79.7 µV/e−, while the effective offset spread is 24 e− rms. In the C8P1 mode, the chip reconstructs full charge deposited in the detector, despite the charge sharing, and it points to a pixel with the largest charge deposition. The chip architecture and preliminary measurements are reported.