High Speed Germanium X-Ray Photon Counting Detector Array

The X-ray science community has recognized an urgent need for developing advanced X-ray detectors to utilize the full potential offered by the third generation X-ray synchrotron facilities, with particular emphasis on tailoring performance to meet beamline science needs. The ability of modern synchrotrons to produce intense photon beams often exceeds the ability of modern detectors to measure the fluxes of electrons, ions, and photons produced in experimental measurements. In a surprising number of cases, many orders of magnitude in signal are currently wasted, and the science performed on very expensive beamlines is limited by the lack of suitable detectors. Although agencies have funded a large growth in synchrotron capacity in the US through the construction of new machines, funding for detector research and development to keep up with the capabilities of the new machines has been mostly absent. A prototype 48