X-ray imaging camera using INTPIX4NA SOIPIX detector with SiTCP-XG 10GbE based high-speed readout system

TL;DR

This paper presents a high-resolution, high-sensitivity X-ray imaging camera utilizing the INTPIX4NA SOIPIX detector with a 10GbE readout system, optimized for low-intensity, high-contrast imaging applications.

Contribution

The development of a novel X-ray camera integrating a SOIPIX detector with a high-speed 10GbE readout system and a cooling mechanism for enhanced imaging of low-intensity X-rays.

Findings

Confirmed high resolution and sensitivity at PF experimental stations.

Demonstrated capability for imaging soft tissues and fine structures.

Suitable for low-contrast, low-intensity X-ray imaging applications.

Abstract

The silicon-on-insulator pixel (SOIPIX) detector is a unique monolithic-structure imaging device currently being developed by the SOIPIX group led by the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). The detector team at KEK Photon Factory (PF) is also developing an X-ray camera using INTPIX4NA with a 14.1 $\times$ 8.7 $\mathsf{mm^2}$ sensitive area and 425,984 (832 column $\times$ 512 row matrix) pixels, with a pixel size of 17 $\times$ 17 $\mathsf{\mu m^2}$. The detector has high resolution and sensitivity for low-intensity X-rays, making it suitable for imaging in optical systems with lower X-ray intensities, such as an X-ray zooming microscope using two Fresnel zone plates (FZPs), which is also under development at PF. To enable imaging under such conditions, we developed a detector cooling system using a Peltier element to support longer exposure time (~0.5 seconds per frame). Additionally, we developed a new readout system using DAQ boards developed by PF, equipped with SiTCP-XG (network controller implemented on field-programmable gate array) that supports 10 Gbps Ethernet for high-frame-rate imaging at several hundred hertz. The new X-ray camera was tested at the PF BL-14A, BL-14B, and AR-NE1A experimental stations, and the resolution and sensitivity characteristics were confirmed. Given these confirmed characteristics, this X-ray camera is suitable for X-ray imaging using 5--20 keV X-rays under low-intensity, low-contrast conditions. These conditions are ideal for capturing soft tissues with poor contrast, objects with fine structures, and specimens vulnerable to radiation damage.