An X-ray imaging pixel detector based on a scintillating guides screen

We have developed and preliminary tested a new digital X-ray imaging sensor based on a scintillating guide screen. The scintillating guides are used to channel the emitted visible light to the pixel detector. This enables us to avoid the well-known tradeoff between detection efficiency and spatial resolution which is encountered when a non-patterned scintillating layer is used on top of a CCD. A prototype has been fabricated using microtechnologies. The scintillator is CsI:Tl and the low-index cladding material used to channel the light is silicon dioxide. The performance of this prototype has been compared to that of a thick CsI single crystal. The results concerning the spatial resolution are quite promising and demonstrate a proof-of-principle. However, the performance in terms of signal to noise ratio and sensitivity have to be improved. These problems are currently addressed.