Testing an Energy-Dispersive Counting-Mode Detector With Hard X-Rays From a Synchrotron Source

A counting-mode line detector has been evaluated at a synchrotron radiation source in order to assess its performance for imaging applications. The x-ray detector is based on 3 mm thick CdZnTe arrays with 1 mm pixel pitch and multi-threshold counting electronics. Data readout has been performed in threshold scan mode to provide maximum energy dispersion. The acquired energy spectra are interpreted regarding the characteristics of a periodic source and pulse pile-up in the detector. In particular, energy response and rate behavior of single-photon and double-photon events are investigated. Count rate dynamics are studied up to incident rates of . A further subject of the investigation is the variance of the observed counting rate. Linearity in the energy domain is tested between 40 keV and 140 keV.