PERCIVAL, the Pixellated Energy-resolving CMOS Imager Versatile and Large, is a 2-megapixel multi-gain X-ray detector designed for photon science experiments at Free Electron Laser (FEL) and synchrotron facilities.
Cross-talk effects and non-uniformity of dark images limited the performance of the first generation of the sensor, limiting noise performance, frame rate, and dynamic gain...
Historically, charge-coupled devices (CCDs) have been the detector of choice for soft X-ray astronomy, successfully deployed on numerous missions over several decades, including XMM-Newton, Swift XRT, Suzaku, Chandra, and the upcoming European Space Agency (ESA) SMILE mission. While highly successful over many years, CCDs are particularly susceptible to radiation damage and must be operated at...
Soft X-ray detection at modern synchrotron and free-electron laser facilities presents key challenges, particularly in achieving high quantum efficiency (QE) at low photon energies, maintaining low noise and high dynamic range, supporting fast frame rates, and ensuring radiation hardness under intense photon flux. Conventional detectors such as back-illuminated CCDs or micro-channel plates...
