September 5, 2007

NSF Awards $550,000 for NSLS X-ray Spectroscopy Detector

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded $550,000 to develop a new silicon detector for x-ray spectroscopy at the NSLS. The detector system, proposed by researchers from the Physics Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the NSLS, and the University of Tennessee, will produce at least a 50-fold increase in signal processing capability while maintaining high-energy resolution. NJIT also is providing an additional $120,000 for equipment and support services.

Synchrotron spectroscopy is a powerful approach for probing the atomic and electronic properties in materials varying from metal oxides to catalysts, and extending to protein molecules. However, in many x-ray experiments, the detector systems currently available are not capable of processing the large number of signals generated by the latest generation of light sources.

The new detector system will increase the number of detector elements to about 400, incorporate silicon drift-detector technology and a new very low-noise front-end Application Specific Integrated Circuit, and apply sophisticated signal analysis techniques to enhance the suppression of unwanted signals and to provide real-time quantitative elemental mapping. This should result in at least a 50-fold increase in the counting rate over existing commercial systems while maintaining the high resolution required to suppress unwanted background radiation.

The proposed project will build upon Brookhaven’s experience in detector arrays and integrated circuits, expertise in spectroscopy and instrument development at NJIT and the NSLS, and the University of Tennessee’s knowledge about x-ray holography and scattering methods.

Graduate students will be involved at all levels of the construction and research conducted with the detector and it will have a broad impact in the education of graduate and undergraduate students based on its use in laboratory courses. One example: The instrument will be utilized as a chemical analysis tool in a transition metal oxide preparation and characterization workshop for Newark area high school students.

ARTICLE BY: Trevor Tyson (NJIT)