Development and Commercialization of an Integrating, Gain-Autoranging Hybrid Pixel X-ray Detector

C49-21a-271327 Many fields of science and applied science use X-rays to study matter at small and fast scales, and the knowledge from these experiments helps power the world economy. Powerful X-ray light source facilities such as synchrotrons and free electron lasers have been developed to study the structure of matter down to the atomic scale, and they can even create “molecular movies” of chemical reaction on time scales of picoseconds down to femtoseconds. To push the knowledge frontier of these sciences, X-ray sources are being continually upgraded for properties such as vastly increased brightness or needle-sharp focus. As a consequence, scientists come up against the limits of existing X-ray detectors to take pictures of intense X- ray pulses, and therefore they require new, advanced detectors with which to record their X-ray patterns. This grant will be used to develop high end detector sensing electronics, and with them design and produce a new high-resolution pixelated detector for taking high speed pictures of X-ray patterns. The grant will improve a detector design to better absorb and detect the X-rays without them passing through the sensor layer. This detector is special because it quickly integrates signals from X-ray patterns and can record intense pulses at orders of magnitude higher rate than is possible with existing commercial detector products used at these facilities. This detector is also a perfect companion for free electron laser sources, which have few suitable options for measuring the near-instantaneous X-ray diffraction and scattering patterns. The Phase IIA project builds on the Phase II project, the fruits of which were: the development of mechanical designs, cryogenic cooling, control software, and the improvement of the integrating circuits. A larger area detector and a better X-ray sensing material will be designed and produced under this grant, to capture more of the X-rays that are emitted during these experiments. The excellent data quality produced by this new detector will inform many branches of science utilizing the diffraction, scattering, and microscopy techniques at these X-ray facilities. Researchers will be able to develop useful new technologies, such as improve aerospace materials with stress and strain measurements, design faster better batteries or three-dimensional printing techniques, or even determine the structure and kinetics of biomolecules, leading to advances in medicine and pharmaceuticals.