Detector Development
Detector systems lie at the heart of the UK’s large-scale science facilities, ensuring that they can deliver world-class capabilities to their scientific users.
We work on every stage of the detector development lifecycle. Our team of expert scientists and engineers engages in projects that include the fundamental characterisation of sensor materials, the development of advanced readout electronics, the testing of camera systems with scientific users, and the delivery of hardware to facilities worldwide.
Our broad portfolio of projects includes:
- Design and manufacture of gas, semiconductor, and scintillator radiation detectors.
- Fundamental characterisation of compound semiconductor sensor materials.
- Characterisation and instrumentation of scintillators.
- Testing and evaluation of CMOS and CCD imagers.
- Designing He-3 tube and 2D neutron detectors.
- Radiation, optical, and detector response simulations.
- Detector readout, mechanics, cooling, and integration.
- Translation of our technologies to industry.
To support this portfolio, we have developed a suite of modern laboratories that include access to advanced opto-electronic characterisation equipment and X-ray equipment for camera testing and experimental design.
We have also developed an innovative family of detectors called HEXITEC (High Energy X-ray Imaging Technology). These detectors deliver unique colour X-ray imaging capabilities and are used in areas from materials science at synchrotrons to medical imaging in a clinical setting. HEXITEC systems are now installed in science facilities around the world and have recently been licensed for advanced medical imaging techniques.
We engage with the broader detector development community, regularly attending major international conferences and publishing our work in peer-reviewed journals.
Research papers and more information
- Read more about the HEXITEC family of technologies
- HEXITEC: A High-Energy X-ray Spectroscopic Imaging Detector for Synchrotron Applications - Taylor & Francis Online
- Preliminary characterisation of the HEXITECMHz spectroscopic X-ray imaging detector - IOPScience
- Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics Purpose-Led Publishing, find out more. Paper Cadmium zinc telluride pixel detectors for high-intensity x-ray imaging at free electron lasers - IOPScience
- Real-time pulse shape discrimination for neutron scattering science using EJ-270 - IOPScience
