High‐resolution multielement solid‐state detectors (invited)

Recent advances in multielement solid‐state detector systems for high rate, high resolution x‐ray spectroscopy at noncryogenic temperatures will be described in this paper. A 16‐channel silicon detector system, designed and built at BNL, has been recently operated in the NSLS machine beam ♯X19A, showing an average energy resolution of less than 250 eV FWHM, which is adequate to discriminate the fluorescence trace element against the background of elastically scattered photons in a typical EXAFS application. A larger, 128 channel system, will soon permit a higher overall count rate: ≳106 counts per second. It is shown that, in order to achieve high resolution with a solid‐state detector, special care must be spent in the detector‐preamplifier assembly. A low noise detectorpreamplifier may be obtained integrating the front‐end devices (an FET and/or a feedback capacitor) with the detector itself.