Silicon photodiode detector for small-angle X-ray scattering

A photodiode X‐ray detector was built to measure small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) at a synchrotron‐radiation source in conjunction with a double‐crystal diffractometer SAXS camera at photon energies between 5 and 11 keV. The photodiode detector response in this energy range is linear at photon counting rates up to 1012 photons s−1 and thus it was not necessary to attenuate the monochromatic X‐ray beam with calibrated foils. SAXS data taken with a scintillation counter and the photodiode detector are compared, demonstrating marked improvement in counting statistics, rate of data acquisition and signal‐to‐noise ratio.