Pixel Detectors for Particle Detection and Imaging Applications

TL;DR

This paper reviews the development and applications of hybrid and monolithic semiconductor pixel detectors in particle physics, biomedical imaging, and astronomy, highlighting their technological progress and suitability for various detection tasks.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of hybrid and monolithic pixel detectors, comparing their technological status and application potential beyond traditional CCDs.

Findings

Hybrid pixel detectors are technologically mature and used in large-scale particle detectors.

Emerging imaging applications utilize hybrid detectors with promising prototype results.

Monolithic detectors offer future advantages for both particle detection and imaging.

Abstract

Semiconductor pixel detectors offer features for the detection of radiation which are interesting for particle physics detectors as well as for imaging e.g. in biomedical applications (radiography, autoradiography, protein crystallography) or in Xray astronomy. At the present time hybrid pixel detectors are technologically mastered to a large extent and large scale particle detectors are being built. Although the physical requirements are often quite different, imaging applications are emerging and interesting prototype results are available. Monolithic detectors, however, offer interesting features for both fields in future applications. The state of development of hybrid and monolithic pixel detectors, excluding CCDs, and their different suitability for particle detection and imaging, is reviewed.