Abstract Body

Large-area X-ray imaging is one of the most widely used imaging modalities that spans several scientific and technological fields, in which the spatial resolution is one of the key metrics. Nonetheless, the conventional direct X-ray detection, with commercially charge-coupled devices and multichannel plate detectors, has been limited at a resolution of approximately 10 μm. Here, we reported an alternative approach via superconducting strip single X-ray detectors (SSXDs), which consist of tantalum nitride (TaN) meander strips covering a detection area exceeding 1 mm2. The device can be easily fabricated, and shows an internal single X-ray photon detection efficiency approaching 100% under silver X-ray tube irritation at the working temperature around 4 K. The spatial resolution of less than 4 µm was demonstrated with proper delay line structure and readout scheme. Benefit from a higher detection energy limit, the proposed detector is insensitive to the stray light. SSXD might be a good candidate for X-ray spectroscopy and microscopy beamline, because of their high spatial resolution potential, single photon detection capability and significant low-noise performance.

References

C. Yang, M. Si, X. Zhang, A. Yu, J. Huang, Y. Pan, H. Li, L. Li, Z. Wang, S. Zhang, J. Xia, Z. Liu, H. Guo and L. You. Large-area TaN superconducting microwire single photon detectors for X-ray detection. Optics Express 29(14): 21400. (2021)

Acknowledgment

Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (Grant No. 2019SHZDZX01)