SELUN: a high-speed X-ray photon counting detector for coherent imaging applications

In this article we present SELUN, a novel X-ray photon counting hybrid pixel detector developed at DECTRIS Ltd for coherent diffraction imaging techniques at synchrotron facilities. Its notable features are a pixel size of 100 µm × 100 µm arranged in a matrix of 192 × 192 elements, the possibility of use of both silicon and high-Z sensors to guarantee high quantum efficiency across a wide range of incoming X-ray energies, fast front-end electronics equipped with instant retrigger technology working in non-paralyzable counting mode, and high frame rates capability up to 120 kfps thanks to two on-chip data-compression mechanisms. Optimized towards speed to cope with the enhanced brilliance of fourth-generation synchrotron sources, it shows remarkable count rate saturation values ranging from about 30 to 60 Mcts s^-1 pixel^-1, depending on the sensor material and value of the incoming X-ray energy, and energy-resolution figures of 664 eV r.m.s. for a silicon sensor and 1.22 keV r.m.s. for a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) sensor.