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Published June 2020 | public
Journal Article

Spatial Resolution of an Inorganic Crystal-Based Hard X-Ray Imager

Abstract

Gigahertz hard X-ray imaging presents an unprecedented challenge to both timing and spatial resolutions for inorganic scintillator-based front imagers. A beam test with 30-keV X-rays from the Advanced Photon Source (APS) showed that 5-mm BaF₂ plates resolve well 30-keV X-ray septuplets of 27-ps width and 2.83-ns spacing. Pixelated crystal screens with a pitch down to 400 μm were fabricated by mechanic slicing for BaF₂, BaF₂:Y, and LYSO crystals. Their spatial resolution and detection efficiency for hard X-rays are defined by the pitch and thickness, respectively. Thicker monolithic crystal screens show poorer spatial resolution, which may be improved using a small optical aperture with a loss in both efficiency and dynamic range for hard X-rays. Future plans include pursuing smaller crystal pitches by laser slicing and research and development on novel ultrafast inorganic scintillators.

Additional Information

© 2020 IEEE. Manuscript received November 15, 2019; revised January 30, 2020; accepted February 20, 2020. Date of publication March 5, 2020; date of current version June 19, 2020. This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of High Energy Physics Program under Award DE-SC0011925 and in part by the National Natural Science Funds of China under Grant 51402332 and Grant 11475241. The authors would like to thank PCO and Princeton companies for providing the charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras used in this investigation.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023