PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) is a very powerful technique for the detection of medium-l... more PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) is a very powerful technique for the detection of medium-light elements (down to Z=11 − Na) due to its superior cross-sections in this atomic number region. However, a common problem in all PIXE setups is the backscattering of protons from the target that perturbs the electronic system, causing front-end electronics saturation, increasing the dead-time and
Recent technological developments and new topology designs made Semiconductor Drift Detectors ide... more Recent technological developments and new topology designs made Semiconductor Drift Detectors ideal devices for highresolution X-ray spectroscopy. In this paper we present advanced monolithic arrays of Silicon Drift Detectors suitable for elemental mapping applications. The main features of the designed arrays together with the summary of their performance are discussed. The measured average resolution is about 140 eV FWHM at the Mn K line at 1 s shaping time. Up to 300 kcps the resolution stays below 220eV FWHM with 375 ns shaping time. Few examples of elemental mapping in geology, archeometry, and chemical analyses are reported.
This work aims to assess the feasibility of studying the distribution of drugs and diagnostic age... more This work aims to assess the feasibility of studying the distribution of drugs and diagnostic agents in biological specimens by means of XRF detected with high-resolution and high sensitivity Silicon Drift Detectors. In the present study we have employed as diagnostic agent a gadolinium complex (Gadocoletic acid trisodium salt - B22956/1). The primary excitation beam was the light of the SYRMEP beamline of the Elettra synchrotron light source. For calibration purposes we analyzed solutions of the Gd complex in water at different dilutions. The minimum level of Gd detected is 5 mug/ml. We measured the Gd complex distribution in different organs (liver, kidney, spleen, lung) and in blood of mice at different times after a single injection of B22956 (250 mg/Kg body weight) and the Gd complex uptake in human liver-derived cells. This technique will allow the measure of pharmacokinetics and the study of the homogeneity of drug distribution inside organs providing a new tool in the development, follow-up and tracking of drug delivery in vitro.
Multi-element germanium detectors for X-ray fluorescence are widely used in synchrotron experimen... more Multi-element germanium detectors for X-ray fluorescence are widely used in synchrotron experiments and in particular in XAFS experiments. This paper presents the construction and characterization of a demonstrator built to investigate the viability of multi-element monolithic germanium detectors equipped with CMOS front-end electronics. Semikon Detector GmbH fabricated a germanium sensor segmented with a pad pattern with pad size mm . 16 channels were instrumented with the CUBE preamplifiers developed at XGLab Srl. The detector was tested with radioactive sources and with the synchrotron X-ray beam of Diamond. The results showed spectra with energy resolution satisfactory for XAFS experiments but with a considerable tail. The low energy tail was proved to be due to charge sharing. In addition the spectra showed the peak stability as a function of counting rate better than 1% for rate up to 838 kcps. The non-linearity of the peak position vs. energy was estimated to be a maximum of 0.13% No evidence of charge loss in the crystal was identified. This work proved that this technology is a viable option to improve the throughput of germanium fluorescence detectors as long as methods to reduce events leading to charge sharing are in place.
In this work we present a recently developed Low Energy X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer (LEXRF) s... more In this work we present a recently developed Low Energy X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer (LEXRF) system combined with a soft and multi-keV X-ray Microscope. The LEXRF setup is a modular system based on the use of multiple large area Silicon Drift Detectors (SDD), with the option of up-scaling it to 8 detectors. The detectors are read-out by a custom designed electronics
A Digital Pulse Processor (DPP) developed for high resolution and ultra-fast X-Ray Spectroscopy i... more A Digital Pulse Processor (DPP) developed for high resolution and ultra-fast X-Ray Spectroscopy is presented. The system is principally suitable for spectrometers based on last generation Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) used in application with high speed elemental mapping.
We have developed a PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) spectrometer for light element analysi... more We have developed a PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) spectrometer for light element analysis based on a Silicon Drift Detector and on a polycapillary lens. The polycapillary lens is needed to guarantee a good solid angle for X-ray detection while minimizing the rate of back-scattered protons impinging on the detector. To this aim we are using a polycapillary lens with
We have developed a detection module based on a Silicon Drift Detector to assess the feasibility ... more We have developed a detection module based on a Silicon Drift Detector to assess the feasibility of medium light elements (down to Z=11 - Na) detection in PIXE measurements at on of the beam-lines with external proton beam at the Tandetron in LABEC (INFN, Firenze, Italy). The achieved energy resolution is of the order of 134 eV FWHM at Mn
The particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE)-alpha portable spectrometer of the Laboratori Nazional... more The particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE)-alpha portable spectrometer of the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud has been upgraded to improve X-ray energy resolution and efficiency. A value of 124 eV at Mn Κa-line and a factor of 3 were, respectively, achieved. These enhanced capabilities allowed the thin surface examination of 5 Roman nummi, in which previous near-surface X-ray fluorescence measurements revealed traces of mercury. In particular, the new version of the PIXE-alpha spectrometer has allowed the distinction of the 2.19 keV Hg M-line from the 2.30 keV S K-line and the 2.34 keV Pb M-line. Subsequent elemental association has demonstrated a correlation between surface mercury and silver.
An ultra-fast XRF spectrometer based on a novel ring-shaped semiconductor drift detector (SDD) an... more An ultra-fast XRF spectrometer based on a novel ring-shaped semiconductor drift detector (SDD) and on a novel readout and processing electronics is introduced and its performance is discussed. The new detector is based on 4 independent "droplet" type SDDs monolithically integrated on the same chip. The detector shape optimizes the collection angle for the fluorescence radiation. The excitation X-ray beam
Future synchrotron experiments will strongly require detectors suited for high-energy photons (> ... more Future synchrotron experiments will strongly require detectors suited for high-energy photons (> 20 keV) which have a good position resolution combined with an excellent energy resolution (far below 1 keV [FWHM] depending on the element size and capacitance). SEMIKON has already built several fine-structured Si(Li)-and HPGe-detectors [1], but up to now they were read-out by conventional preamplifiers placed far away from the position elements. Therefore the achieved energy resolution (∼ 1.6 keV [FWHM] @ 60 keV) was not suitable for synchrotron applications. To achieve a better energy resolution CUBE preamplifiers (developed by XGLab s.r.l.) were used for the read-out of the detector elements. The CUBE preamplifier was originally developed to work in combination with detectors which have a very low capacitance (e.g. Silicon Drift Detectors). With such detectors it was already shown that a very good energy resolution can be achieved even at high count rates . With this work, we will show that CUBE can have a good performance also with detectors having a higher capacitance. We will present the very first results of measurements which were performed with structured planar HPGe-and Si(Li)-detectors (multi-element detectors) in combination with the CUBE ASICs.
We present a monolithic CMOS charge preamplifier named “CUBE”. It is specifically designed to be ... more We present a monolithic CMOS charge preamplifier named “CUBE”. It is specifically designed to be used with Silicon Drift Detectors (SDD). We will show that the use a MOSFET as input transistor allows superior noise performances at very short shaping times respect to the state-of-the-art externally connected JFET devices. We will show the achievable energy resolutions using a 10mm2 reference
PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) is a very powerful technique for the detection of medium-l... more PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) is a very powerful technique for the detection of medium-light elements (down to Z=11 − Na) due to its superior cross-sections in this atomic number region. However, a common problem in all PIXE setups is the backscattering of protons from the target that perturbs the electronic system, causing front-end electronics saturation, increasing the dead-time and
Recent technological developments and new topology designs made Semiconductor Drift Detectors ide... more Recent technological developments and new topology designs made Semiconductor Drift Detectors ideal devices for highresolution X-ray spectroscopy. In this paper we present advanced monolithic arrays of Silicon Drift Detectors suitable for elemental mapping applications. The main features of the designed arrays together with the summary of their performance are discussed. The measured average resolution is about 140 eV FWHM at the Mn K line at 1 s shaping time. Up to 300 kcps the resolution stays below 220eV FWHM with 375 ns shaping time. Few examples of elemental mapping in geology, archeometry, and chemical analyses are reported.
This work aims to assess the feasibility of studying the distribution of drugs and diagnostic age... more This work aims to assess the feasibility of studying the distribution of drugs and diagnostic agents in biological specimens by means of XRF detected with high-resolution and high sensitivity Silicon Drift Detectors. In the present study we have employed as diagnostic agent a gadolinium complex (Gadocoletic acid trisodium salt - B22956/1). The primary excitation beam was the light of the SYRMEP beamline of the Elettra synchrotron light source. For calibration purposes we analyzed solutions of the Gd complex in water at different dilutions. The minimum level of Gd detected is 5 mug/ml. We measured the Gd complex distribution in different organs (liver, kidney, spleen, lung) and in blood of mice at different times after a single injection of B22956 (250 mg/Kg body weight) and the Gd complex uptake in human liver-derived cells. This technique will allow the measure of pharmacokinetics and the study of the homogeneity of drug distribution inside organs providing a new tool in the development, follow-up and tracking of drug delivery in vitro.
Multi-element germanium detectors for X-ray fluorescence are widely used in synchrotron experimen... more Multi-element germanium detectors for X-ray fluorescence are widely used in synchrotron experiments and in particular in XAFS experiments. This paper presents the construction and characterization of a demonstrator built to investigate the viability of multi-element monolithic germanium detectors equipped with CMOS front-end electronics. Semikon Detector GmbH fabricated a germanium sensor segmented with a pad pattern with pad size mm . 16 channels were instrumented with the CUBE preamplifiers developed at XGLab Srl. The detector was tested with radioactive sources and with the synchrotron X-ray beam of Diamond. The results showed spectra with energy resolution satisfactory for XAFS experiments but with a considerable tail. The low energy tail was proved to be due to charge sharing. In addition the spectra showed the peak stability as a function of counting rate better than 1% for rate up to 838 kcps. The non-linearity of the peak position vs. energy was estimated to be a maximum of 0.13% No evidence of charge loss in the crystal was identified. This work proved that this technology is a viable option to improve the throughput of germanium fluorescence detectors as long as methods to reduce events leading to charge sharing are in place.
In this work we present a recently developed Low Energy X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer (LEXRF) s... more In this work we present a recently developed Low Energy X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer (LEXRF) system combined with a soft and multi-keV X-ray Microscope. The LEXRF setup is a modular system based on the use of multiple large area Silicon Drift Detectors (SDD), with the option of up-scaling it to 8 detectors. The detectors are read-out by a custom designed electronics
A Digital Pulse Processor (DPP) developed for high resolution and ultra-fast X-Ray Spectroscopy i... more A Digital Pulse Processor (DPP) developed for high resolution and ultra-fast X-Ray Spectroscopy is presented. The system is principally suitable for spectrometers based on last generation Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) used in application with high speed elemental mapping.
We have developed a PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) spectrometer for light element analysi... more We have developed a PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) spectrometer for light element analysis based on a Silicon Drift Detector and on a polycapillary lens. The polycapillary lens is needed to guarantee a good solid angle for X-ray detection while minimizing the rate of back-scattered protons impinging on the detector. To this aim we are using a polycapillary lens with
We have developed a detection module based on a Silicon Drift Detector to assess the feasibility ... more We have developed a detection module based on a Silicon Drift Detector to assess the feasibility of medium light elements (down to Z=11 - Na) detection in PIXE measurements at on of the beam-lines with external proton beam at the Tandetron in LABEC (INFN, Firenze, Italy). The achieved energy resolution is of the order of 134 eV FWHM at Mn
The particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE)-alpha portable spectrometer of the Laboratori Nazional... more The particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE)-alpha portable spectrometer of the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud has been upgraded to improve X-ray energy resolution and efficiency. A value of 124 eV at Mn Κa-line and a factor of 3 were, respectively, achieved. These enhanced capabilities allowed the thin surface examination of 5 Roman nummi, in which previous near-surface X-ray fluorescence measurements revealed traces of mercury. In particular, the new version of the PIXE-alpha spectrometer has allowed the distinction of the 2.19 keV Hg M-line from the 2.30 keV S K-line and the 2.34 keV Pb M-line. Subsequent elemental association has demonstrated a correlation between surface mercury and silver.
An ultra-fast XRF spectrometer based on a novel ring-shaped semiconductor drift detector (SDD) an... more An ultra-fast XRF spectrometer based on a novel ring-shaped semiconductor drift detector (SDD) and on a novel readout and processing electronics is introduced and its performance is discussed. The new detector is based on 4 independent "droplet" type SDDs monolithically integrated on the same chip. The detector shape optimizes the collection angle for the fluorescence radiation. The excitation X-ray beam
Future synchrotron experiments will strongly require detectors suited for high-energy photons (> ... more Future synchrotron experiments will strongly require detectors suited for high-energy photons (> 20 keV) which have a good position resolution combined with an excellent energy resolution (far below 1 keV [FWHM] depending on the element size and capacitance). SEMIKON has already built several fine-structured Si(Li)-and HPGe-detectors [1], but up to now they were read-out by conventional preamplifiers placed far away from the position elements. Therefore the achieved energy resolution (∼ 1.6 keV [FWHM] @ 60 keV) was not suitable for synchrotron applications. To achieve a better energy resolution CUBE preamplifiers (developed by XGLab s.r.l.) were used for the read-out of the detector elements. The CUBE preamplifier was originally developed to work in combination with detectors which have a very low capacitance (e.g. Silicon Drift Detectors). With such detectors it was already shown that a very good energy resolution can be achieved even at high count rates . With this work, we will show that CUBE can have a good performance also with detectors having a higher capacitance. We will present the very first results of measurements which were performed with structured planar HPGe-and Si(Li)-detectors (multi-element detectors) in combination with the CUBE ASICs.
We present a monolithic CMOS charge preamplifier named “CUBE”. It is specifically designed to be ... more We present a monolithic CMOS charge preamplifier named “CUBE”. It is specifically designed to be used with Silicon Drift Detectors (SDD). We will show that the use a MOSFET as input transistor allows superior noise performances at very short shaping times respect to the state-of-the-art externally connected JFET devices. We will show the achievable energy resolutions using a 10mm2 reference
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