HERMES-Based X-Ray Strip Detector

The effectiveness of synchrotron radiation science is being hindered by the limited availability of advanced detectors. This is due to the limited deployment of existing detectors as well as limited development effort to provide new advanced capabilities. As synchrotron radiation experiments become more sophisticated, advanced detectors will be necessary to leverage the capabilities of the beamlines and enable discovery. A novel microstrip detector prototyped by a national laboratory has proven to be highly effective at acquiring data with the count rates, energy resolution and spatial resolution needed for complex x-ray studies. The fast position-sensitive strip-array detector enables real-time, microsecond timescale study of phase transformations and reactions as a function of temperature, chemical gradients, and pressure. In these applications the intensity can vary over several orders of magnitude over a very small angular range and detectors capable of accurately measuring these large variations are critical. The overall objective of this SBIR program is to leverage the DOEs investment in detector technology that far too often lies locked up in laboratories. The proposed effort will complete the technology transfer of a laboratory-conceived microstrip detector thus making it readily available to a broad community of researchers worldwide. Phase I addressed several impediments to the widespread deployment of the detector and demonstrated the feasibility of a design that increases its utility and reduces cost of ownership. The Phase I conceptual design became the roadmap for transitioning the initial laboratory-built prototype into a robust and reliable commercial instrument. Phase II accomplished the research and engineering needed to produce an advanced engineering prototype of that conceptual design. In addition, the prototype contained several advanced features that improve performance and ease integration. Phase IIB is designed to complete the transition and position the technology for immediate commercial deployment. Further advancements will be made in terms of manufacturability, component-level qualification, system testing, and a more universally compatible software interface. Two pre-production prototypes will be constructed and made available to participating scientists for evaluation in target market applications. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: The commercial deployment of the of this detector will enable researchers to advance discovery by providing an instrument that significantly speeds up the data gathering process as compared to present techniques. By acquiring data simultaneously at many points, the quality and quantity of data will be improved 100-fold from the current state of the art. These detectors will benefit a wide range of applications ranging from structure-based drug design to environmental remediation of contamination sites to new discoveries in nanoscale material science.