Characterization and calibration of DECTRIS PILATUS3 X CdTe 2M high-<i>Z</i> hybrid pixel detector for high-precision powder diffraction measurements

Silicon-based hybrid photon-counting pixel detectors have become the standard for diffraction experiments of all types at low and moderate X-ray energies. More recently, hybrid pixel detectors with high-<i>Z</i> materials have become available, opening up the benefits of this technology for high-energy diffraction experiments. However, detection layers made of high-<i>Z</i> materials are less perfect than those made of silicon, so care must be taken to correct the data in order to remove systematic errors in detector response introduced by inhomogeneities in the detection layer, in addition to the variation of the response of the electronics. In this paper we discuss the steps necessary to obtain the best-quality powder diffraction data from these detectors, and demonstrate that these data are significantly superior to those acquired with other high-energy detector technologies.