A low noise-high counting rate readout system for X-ray imaging applications

A system for processing signals from direct photon conversion sensors has been developed with the aim to be used for applications in X-ray imaging. The system consists of a mixed analog-digital ASIC and a digital 32-channels binary counter ASIC. The digital chips can be daisy-chained. In this way a system with high number of readout channels can be constructed. A custom made PCI card is also developed in order to control the operation of the whole system. The system is intended to operate with CdTe sensors in a luggage inspection system. The first experimental results including overall noise and counting rate are reported here.