PHOTON II detector, single crystal X-ray diffraction

CPAD Technology: New Developments in Pixel Array Technology

Hybrid Photon Counting and Charge-Integrating Pixel Detectors

Pixel Array Technology TechNote12 First Page
SC-XRD Technical Note

Hybrid pixel area detectors (HPAD) also known as hybrid photon-counting detectors (HPCs) have increased the efficiency of crystallographic beamlines over the last 10 years. These detectors offer a number of highly desirable characteristics. Unfortunately, HPADs are not the ideal detectors. The observed drawbacks limit the data accuracy that can be achieved with conventional HPADs.
A new generation of detectors, Charge-Integrating Pixel Detectors (CPADs), has recently been introduced that preserves HPADs’ desirable characteristics (e.g., fast frame rates and single-photon sensitivity) while essentially eliminating observed problems, such as count rate saturation and charge-sharing noise.

Download Technical Note New Developments in Pixel Array Technology to learn:

  • Why are HPADs/HPCs not noise-free detectors?
  • Why doesn’t a photon-counting detector count each photon?
  • What does charge-sharing noise to the data quality and how can the effect be overcome?
  • How can CPAD overcome count rate limitations?
  • What is the benefit of a large monolithic sensor?
  • Smaller pixels better detector?
  • Are there draw backs in CPAD technology?
  • Is there a detector I can efficiently use for dual wavelength systems?