Abstract
One of the challenges of all synchrotron facilities is to offer the highest performance detectors for all their specific experiments, in particular for X-ray diffraction imaging and its high throughput data collection. In that context, the DiffAbs beamline, the Detectors and the Design and Engineering groups at Synchrotron SOLEIL, in collaboration with ImXPAD and Cegitek companies, have developed an original and unique detector with a circular shape. This detector is based on the hybrid pixel photon-counting technology and consists of the specific assembly of 20 hybrid pixel array detector (XPAD) modules. This article aims to demonstrate the main characteristics of the CirPAD (for Circular Pixel Array Detector) and its performance - i.e. excellent pixel quality, flat-field correction, high-count-rate performance, etc. Additionally, the powder X-ray diffraction pattern of an LaB6 reference sample is presented and refined. The obtained results demonstrate the high quality of the data recorded from the CirPAD, which allows the proposal of its use to all scientific communities interested in performing experiments at the DiffAbs beamline.
Highlights
The French synchrotron facility, Synchrotron SOLEIL, offers a large panel of synchrotron experiments to the scientific community thanks to its 29 different beamlines
DiffAbs allows the combination of a set of X-ray-based analytical techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and resonant X-ray diffraction like anomalous X-ray diffraction (AXRD) or diffraction anomalous fine structure (DAFS), and X-ray absorption (XAS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopies
In addition to the complexity related to the readout of 20 modules, the most important challenge of the CirPAD manufacture is based on its unique geometry, which required the design and realization of a precise mechanical frame which must ensure several critical features, such as: (i) accommodate 20 XPAD-S70 modules, the acquisition boards of the 20 modules, four regrouping boards, power supply, synchronization board and cooling system; (ii) high mechanical stability of all 20 modules; (iii) high precision of the positioning of each of the XPAD-S70 modules, with individual adjustment to minimize the space between them; (iv) heat dissipation to maintain the stable temperature of the detector modules and all electronic components
Summary
The French synchrotron facility, Synchrotron SOLEIL, offers a large panel of synchrotron experiments to the scientific community thanks to its 29 different beamlines. Up to now, there was no detector available at the beamline which could combine high-speed acquisition (higher than 500 Hz to follow transformations in the studied materials), short acquisition time (to perform time-resolved acquisition in stroboscopic experiments) and very large area (more than 100 to record full structural information with an angular resolution in the order of 0.01) with increased flexibility of use (with two degrees of freedom) For this reason, the Detectors group and DiffAbs beamline on one side, and the Cegitek company (formerly imXPAD) on the other, developed an original high-speed 2D detector based on a silicon sensor hybrided into an XPAD3.2 readout chip (Pangaud et al, 2007), with a particular geometry covering a very wide angular range.
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