X-Ray Diffraction Computed Tomography

With X-Ray Diffraction Computed Tomography (XRD-CT), phases within a mixture or bulk can be identified, associated with their position within the sample, and monitored in real time. One key to making this process work is a high-energy, hybrid-pixel detector.

XRD-CT data provide a three-dimensional map in which each pixel/voxel contains a distinct diffraction pattern, resulting in localized information on crystalline phases in the object. One of weak points of XRD-CT was that measurements usually required a trade-off between spatial and temporal resolution. On the experimental level, the breakthrough came with the marriage of modern high-energy beamlines and hybrid-pixel detectors based on cadmium-telluride (CdTe) sensors.

CdTe detectors brought all the benefits of photon-counting technology to hard X-rays: noise-free performance, speed, a high dynamic range, and high resolution. This has helped to push XRD-CT towards a status as a 5D technique, in which three spatial, one temporal, and one scattering dimension are successfully applied to in-situ and operando monitoring of reactions. The technique is useful when analyzing various materials and systems, including fuel cells, catalysts, diluted materials, and biological tissues.

✓ CdTe-based detectors ensure high efficiency when working with hard X-rays.
✓ Two pixel sizes allow for geometries closer to, or further away from, the sample.
✓ In-situ and operando studies are enabled by readouts and frame rates that are optimized for speed, and the ablility to build large-area detectors.

X-Ray Diffraction Computed Tomography at Synchrotrons

✓ Large-area CdTe detectors are available.
✓ Our detectors are used at 4th-generation synchrotron sources with high count rates and product stability.
✓ EIGER2 CdTe detectors allow continuous readout and Regions of Interest (ROI).