No Arabic abstract
A vacuum-compatible photon-counting hybrid pixel detector has been installed in the ultra-high vacuum (UHV) reflectometer of the four-crystal monochromator (FCM) beamline of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) at the electron storage ring BESSY II in Berlin, Germany. The setup is based on the PILATUS3 100K module. The detector can be used in the entire photon energy range accessible at the beamline from 1.75 to 10 keV. Complementing the already installed vacuum-compatible PILATUS 1M detector used for small-angle scattering (SAXS) and grazing incidence SAXS (GISAXS), it is possible to access larger scattering angles. The water-cooled module is located on the goniometer arm and can be positioned from -90{deg} to 90{deg} with respect to the incoming beam at a distance of about 200 mm from the sample. To perform absolute scattering experiments the linearity, homogeneity and the angular dependence of the quantum efficiency, including their relative uncertainties, have been investigated. In addition, first results of the performance in wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray reflectometry (XRR) are presented.
The performance of hybrid GaAs pixel detectors as X-ray imaging sensors were investigated at room temperature. These hybrids consist of 300 mu-m thick GaAs pixel detectors, flip-chip bonded to a CMOS Single Photon Counting Chip (PCC). This chip consists of a matrix of 64 x 64 identical square pixels (170 mu-m x 170 mu-m) and covers a total area of 1.2 cm**2. The electronics in each cell comprises a preamplifier, a discriminator with a 3-bit threshold adjust and a 15-bit counter. The detector is realized by an array of Schottky diodes processed on semi-insulating LEC-GaAs bulk material. An IV-charcteristic and a detector bias voltage scan showed that the detector can be operated with voltages around 200 V. Images of various objects were taken by using a standard X-ray tube for dental diagnostics. The signal to noise ratio (SNR) was also determined. The applications of these imaging systems range from medical applications like digital mammography or dental X-ray diagnostics to non destructive material testing (NDT). Because of the separation of detector and readout chip, different materials can be investigated and compared.
The GALAXIES beamline at the SOLEIL synchrotron is dedicated to inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) and photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) in the 2.3-12 keV hard x-ray range. These two techniques offer powerful, complementary methods of characterization of materials with bulk sensitivity, chemical and orbital selectivity, resonant enhancement and high resolving power. After a description of the beamline components and endstations, we address the beamline performances through a selection of recent works both in the solid and gas phases and using either IXS or HAXPES approaches. Prospects for studies on liquids are discussed.
The continuing improvement in quantum efficiency (above 90% for single visible photons), reduction in noise (below 1 electron per pixel), and shrink in pixel pitch (less than 1 micron) motivate billion-pixel X-ray cameras (BiPC-X) based on commercial CMOS imaging sensors. We describe BiPC-X designs and prototype construction based on flexible tiling of commercial CMOS imaging sensors with millions of pixels. Device models are given for direct detection of low energy X-rays ($<$ 10 keV) and indirect detection of higher energies using scintillators. Modified Birkss law is proposed for light-yield nonproportionality in scintillators as a function of X-ray energy. Single X-ray sensitivity and spatial resolution have been validated experimentally using laboratory X-ray source and the Argonne Advanced Photon Source. Possible applications include wide field-of-view (FOV) or large X-ray aperture measurements in high-temperature plasmas, the state-of-the-art synchrotron, X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL), and pulsed power facilities.
X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) is a widely used X-ray diagnostic method. While synchrotrons have large communities of XAS users, its use on X-Ray Free Electron Lasers (XFEL) facilities has been rather limited. At a first glance, the relatively narrow bandwidth and the highly fluctuating spectral structure of XFEL sources seem to prevent high-quality XAS measurements without accumulating over many shots. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the collection of single-shot XAS spectra on an XFEL, with error bars of only a few percent, over tens of eV. We show how this technique can be extended over wider spectral ranges towards Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) measurements, by concatenating a few tens of single-shot measurements. Such results open indisputable perspectives for future femtosecond time resolved XAS studies, especially for transient processes that can be initiated at low repetition rate.
We describe the design and show first results of a large solid angle X-ray emission spectrometer that is optimized for energies between 1.5 keV and 5.5 keV. The spectrometer is based on an array of 11 cylindrically bent Johansson crystal analyzers arranged in a non-dispersive Rowland circle geometry. The smallest achievable energy bandwidth is smaller than the core hole lifetime broadening of the absorption edges in this energy range. Energy scanning is achieved using an innovative design, maintaining the Rowland circle conditions for all crystals with only four motor motions. The entire spectrometer is encased in a high-vacuum chamber that allocates a liquid helium cryostat and provides sufficient space for in situ cells and operando catalysis reactors.