A novel multicell silicon drift detector module for X-ray spectroscopy and imaging applications

A novel 61-cell silicon drift detector module is proposed for high-counting rates and high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy and imaging applications at energies up to about 30 keV. Its hexagonal geometry with sloped sidewalls allows a buckyball arrangement. Up to 1860 cells of an active area of 5 mm/sup 2/ each can he reached at an average distance to the specimen of only 4.3 cm. An optimized electrical connection concept offers a vertical integration of a sensor array and signal processing electronics. Worst-case crosstalk of 0.3% (-50 dB) and signal loss of 7% (-24 dB) were derived from electrical field analysis. A sandwich of metal foils between the X-ray sensor and electronics reduces the dose of radiation at the electronics by more than eight orders of magnitude. Module-induced background fluorescence reaches its maximum at an incident energy of 13 keV, but remains below 10/sup -4/ of the incoming photon flux at all energies. Three-dimensional (3-D) simulations on thermal module behavior show that the use of graphite as housing material allows an operation with spatial inhomogeneities of