The use of avalanche photodiodes for the detection of soft x rays

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Review of Scientific Instruments; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1142620· OSTI ID:5568711

Palmer, J R; Morrison, G R ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, King's College, Strand, London WC2R 2LS (United Kingdom)

Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) offer an attractive alternative to the gas flow proportional counter (GFPC) for the counting of individual soft x-ray photons. They are reasonably efficient detectors and have the capability of handling higher count rates than a GFPC. With the advent of intense monochromatic x-ray beams from synchrotron radiation sources, the ability to handle high count rates is becoming more important than the need for any energy resolution. Another attraction of using solid-state detectors is the possibility of multielement fabrication of devices: configured detector arrays can then be considered for a number of applications. For example, in the scanning transmission x-ray microscope such a detector system allows much more sophisticated imaging techniques, such as differential phase contrast imaging with a quadrant APD array. In this paper we compare results for several commercially available APDs used as photon counters with a GFPC over the energy range 200--700 eV. APDs operated in the Geiger mode with a simple passive circuit to quench the avalanche current pulses can achieve count rates of the order of 10{sup 6} s{sup {minus}1}, and this can be greatly improved upon with the use of an active quenching circuit.

• OSTI ID: 5568711
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments; (United States), Vol. 63:1; ISSN 0034-6748
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
PHOTODIODES
X-RAY DETECTION
SYNCHROTRON RADIATION SOURCES
COUNTING RATES
EV RANGE 100-1000
MONOCHROMATIC RADIATION
PHOTODETECTORS
PHOTON BEAMS
SOFT X RADIATION
BEAMS
DETECTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENERGY RANGE
EV RANGE
IONIZING RADIATIONS
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIATIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES
X RADIATION
440101* - Radiation Instrumentation- General Detectors or Monitors & Radiometric Instruments