Development of a High-Channel-Count, High Frame Rate, Spectroscopic Imager

X-ray spectroscopy techniques inform a vast array of science and engineering disciplines, since they can be used to make very high resolution maps of the elements contained in a sample, or the chemical reactive state of a sample’s surface. One can see the metals or contaminants in a soil sample, verify the coating on a pharmaceutical pill, or even read an ancient text too fragile to open. Synchrotrons and X-ray free electron laser facilities are the power houses of X-ray spectroscopy research, and they need detector upgrades to keep up with X-ray beams which are too bright to be seen with existing detectors. This Phase I grant will be used to create a comprehensive commercialization strategy for an advanced new prototype detector. The prototype is a proof of principle with 10x10 pixels which can simultaneously measure X-ray energies. It is a new approach to X-ray detection, which will be tested in Phase I and then scaled up in Phase II with thousands of small pixels that frame at a high rate. This scheme will overcome the limitations of existing detectors and see many times more X-rays with high resolution, and increase experimental throughput and resolved details. This scheme is also the ideal solution for free electron laser facilities, which have a strong need but few suitable options for spectroscopy detectors. This project will create a desirable new, American-made world-class detector for spectroscopy research. In addition to their manufacture and export to facilities worldwide, these detectors will serve to accelerate research in both basic sciences and applied sciences—from battery operation, soil science, and mining, to food safety and semiconductor manufacturing.