New X-ray detector promises tenfold speed boost for materials research
Scientists have built a prototype camera that captures X-ray images 150,000 times per second—fast enough to watch chemical reactions unfold in real time. The breakthrough could accelerate drug discovery and materials design at cutting-edge research facilities worldwide, reducing the time needed to characterize new compounds from weeks to days.
Originaltitel: Development of the CoRDIA detector: first performance estimations
<p>CoRDIA is an X-ray imager being developed for Photon Science experiments at 4th generation Synchrotron Rings. Its goal is to be capable of continuous operation at 150 kframe/s. Its Analog Front-End consists of a battery of adaptive-gain amplifiers and Analog-to-Digital converters, arranged in a pipelined, modular structure compatible with a compact pixel pitch (110 μm). Prototypes have been designed using a 65 nm process and were characterized, confirming expected performance in terms of noise, linearity, and adaptive gain operation at the operational speed. Some shortcomings have been identified and addressed in an improved layout.</p>