Chapter 5
X-ray Detectors and Electronics
5.1 Introduction
X-ray detectors are transducers—they convert X-rays into something more easily
observed and/or measured: visible photons, a click on a loudspeaker, a grain of
metallic silver, or, most commonly, an electrical voltage fed to a computer.
Röntgen’s eyes were part of the earliest X-ray detection system—he observed visible
luminescence from a barium platinum cyanide screen that was being struck by
X-rays from his cathode ray tube. Shortly after, he used film to record images
(Fig. 5.1) [5, 164].
Detectors are a vital link in the chain of any successful synchrotron experiment.
Although they have not yet reached the scale of detectors for high-energy physics
installations, there is a growing appreciation that sometimes the most economical
way to improve an experiment might be investing in X-ray detection as opposed to
X-ray production.
An X-ray detector has to provide an accurate measure of X-ray intensity and, in
some cases, X-ray energy, position, or even polarization. Detectors can be broadly
divided into two classes according to how they are used: integrating detectors that
provide an output corresponding to the integrated X-ray flux over time and photoncounting detectors that separately record the arrival of each X-ray. In fact, many
detectors can be run in both modes, depending on the electronics used for readout.
5.2 Detector Properties
The characteristics of any X-ray detector depend on how it is used, including the
energy and flux of the X-rays being detected, as well as the electronics that are
employed. Among the most important parameters defining these characteristics are
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. P. Cramer, X-Ray Spectroscopy with Synchrotron Radiation, Biological and Medical
Physics, Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28551-7_5
107
X-ray Detectors and Electronics
5.1 Introduction
X-ray detectors are transducers—they convert X-rays into something more easily
observed and/or measured: visible photons, a click on a loudspeaker, a grain of
metallic silver, or, most commonly, an electrical voltage fed to a computer.
Röntgen’s eyes were part of the earliest X-ray detection system—he observed visible
luminescence from a barium platinum cyanide screen that was being struck by
X-rays from his cathode ray tube. Shortly after, he used film to record images
(Fig. 5.1) [5, 164].
Detectors are a vital link in the chain of any successful synchrotron experiment.
Although they have not yet reached the scale of detectors for high-energy physics
installations, there is a growing appreciation that sometimes the most economical
way to improve an experiment might be investing in X-ray detection as opposed to
X-ray production.
An X-ray detector has to provide an accurate measure of X-ray intensity and, in
some cases, X-ray energy, position, or even polarization. Detectors can be broadly
divided into two classes according to how they are used: integrating detectors that
provide an output corresponding to the integrated X-ray flux over time and photoncounting detectors that separately record the arrival of each X-ray. In fact, many
detectors can be run in both modes, depending on the electronics used for readout.
5.2 Detector Properties
The characteristics of any X-ray detector depend on how it is used, including the
energy and flux of the X-rays being detected, as well as the electronics that are
employed. Among the most important parameters defining these characteristics are
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. P. Cramer, X-Ray Spectroscopy with Synchrotron Radiation, Biological and Medical
Physics, Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28551-7_5
107