Description
Advancing Coherent X-Ray Science with High-Speed Detection and Seamless Data Processing
Sascha Grimm
DECTRIS, Badenerstrasse 7B, 5405 Baden, Switzerland
ABSTRACT
The unprecedented coherent flux of 4th-generation synchrotron sources demands equally advanced detection and data analysis tools. DECTRIS addresses this challenge with high-speed, noise-free photon-counting detectors — PILATUS4 [1], EIGER2 [2], and the new SELUN [3]— that combine high dynamic range with kilohertz to 100-kHz frame rates. These capabilities enable efficient data collection for ptychography, coherent diffraction imaging, and time-resolved scattering.
In the R&D pipeline, DECTRIS is pushing photon-counting technology into the low-energy range around 1 keV, expanding coherent X-ray methods into the soft X-ray regime, and developing real-time feedback pipelines for ptychography, allowing users to iteratively optimize experiments during acquisition. In parallel, DECTRIS pursues charge-integrating detection with the JUNGFRAU, designed to handle high instantaneous flux through adaptive gain switching, providing both single-photon sensitivity and large dynamic range. Together, these developments target critical bottlenecks of modern synchrotron science from soft X-ray detection to mitigating radiation damage through faster acquisitions, and managing the massive data volumes generated by upgraded sources. Here we demonstrate these advances with measurements at BESSY II, Diamond Light Source, MAX IV, and the ESRF.
References
1. T. Donath et al.,, Enhancing high-energy powder X-ray diffraction applications using a PILATUS4 CdTe detector, Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, Vol. 32, Pt 2, 2025, pp. 378-384
2. T. Donath et al., EIGER2 hybrid-photon-counting X-ray detectors for advanced synchrotron diffraction experiments, Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, Vol. 30, 2023, pp. 723-738.
3. S. Cipiccia, M. Fratini, E. Erin, et al., Fast X-ray Ptychography: Towards Nanoscale Imaging of Large Volumes of Brain, European Physical Journal Plus, Vol. 139, 2024, p. 434.
