Free-electron lasers (FELs) are currently the most advanced light sources operating worldwide, thanks to their capability to lase coherent ultrashort pulses, marked by photon energies bridging the gap between the Extreme-Ultraviolet (EUV) and the Soft (SXR) and Hard (HXR) X-Rays, alongside with unique high-brightness and temporal duration lying in the femtosecond (fs) timescale. FELs can exploit, in a time-resolved approach, spectroscopies daily employed at synchrotron light sources, mostly combining EUV, SXR and HXR pulses with optical ones. Nonetheless, the next advances in ultrafast x-Ray science are strongly linked to the extension of these time-resolved schemes to perform experiments engaging exclusively EUV, SXR and HXR pulses, so triggering (and probing) matter at its (or nearby) electronic resonance(s), to reveal the microscopic mechanisms hiding behind matter phases of primary interest for broadband applications. Indeed, designing the next generation of quantum devices, as well as tailoring a new classes of biomolecules for pharmacological applications, are just two examples that can be strongly boosted by means of this optical approach. To do this, is mandatory to split and delay (in time) FELs pulses, without impacting on both the radiation coherence properties and on the photon transport. At the seeded FERMI FEL (Trieste, Italy) this goal is committed by the optical device known as AC/DC, which stands for the Auto Correlator/Delay Creator, designed to split the incoming EUV and/or SXR pulse, introducing a tunable delay between these two pulses, marked by an intrinsic resolution in the sub-fs, and aided by an opto-numerical pointing feedback system.
M. Antonelli, M. Di Fraia, A. Tallaire, J. Achard, S. Carrato, R. Menk, G. Cautero, D. Giuressi, W. Jark, G. Biasiol, T. Ganbold, K. Oliver, C. Callegari, M. Coreno, A. De Sio, E. Pace
New generation Synchrotron Radiation (SR) sources and Free Electron Lasers (FEL) require novel concepts of beam
diagnostics to keep photon beams under surveillance, asking for simultaneous position and intensity monitoring. To deal with high power load and short time pulses provided by these sources, novel materials and methods are needed for the next generation BPMs.
Diamond is a promising material for the production of semitransparent in situ X-ray BPMs withstanding the high dose rates of SR rings and high energy FELs. We report on the development of freestanding, single crystal CVD diamond detectors. Performances in both low and radio frequency SR beam monitoring are presented. For the former, sensitivity deviation was found to be approximately 2%; a 0.05% relative precision in the intensity measurements and a 0.1-μm precision in the position encoding have been estimated. For the latter, single-shot characterizations revealed sub-nanosecond rise-times and spatial precisions below 6 μm, which allowed bunch-by-bunch monitoring in multi-bunch operation.
Preliminary measurements at the Fermi FEL have been performed with this detector, extracting quantitative intensity and position information for FEL pulses (~ 100 fs, energy 12 ÷ 60 eV), with a long-term spatial precision of about 85 μm; results on FEL radiation damages are also reported. Due to their direct, low-energy band gap, InGaAs quantum well devices too may be used as fast detectors for photons ranging from visible to X-ray. Results are reported which show the capability of a novel InGaAs/InAlAs device to detect intensity and position of 100-fs-wide laser pulses.
Small triangular prisms are arranged very regularly in Clessidra type x-ray lenses: they are interconnected at their tips and form a
larger prism of equal shape very similarly to a stylised Christmas tree. Two opposing prisms of this type then form the Clessidra
prism array. The name arrives from the similarity with an old hourglass, Clessidra in Italian. The construction principle makes the
lens highly periodic in the vertical direction perpendicular to the incident beam. Thus with sufficiently spatially coherent x-ray
illumination, the structure can be looked at as a linear transmission grating, i.e. a diffracting object. It is a special feature of the
Clessidra lenses, that they have inherent focusing capabilities in the near field, or Fresnel regime of diffraction. In this regime the
structure periodicity of the diffracting object is reproduced with different linear magnifications at the Talbot distances. The refraction in the prism structure then directs all incident intensities to a common crossover point at one of the Talbot distances. This situation was studied rigorously from the theoretical point of view. This report then presents simple models, which are in agreement with the rigorous calculations, and which can consistently explain our experimental data. For a given lens we varied the photon energy of the incident radiation and the distance between the lens and a CCD detector. In addition we moved a small slit of varying opening through the lens aperture. The experimental data will be interpreted also depending on the spatially coherently illuminated area at the lens.
R. Longo, A. Abrami, F. Arfelli, P. Bregant, V. Chenda, M. Cova, D. Dreossi, F. de Guarrini, R. Menk, E. Quai, E. Quaia, T. Rokvic, M. Tonutti, G. Tromba, F. Zanconati, E. Castelli
Purpose: The first clinical facility for synchrotron radiation (SR) mammography is now operative at the SYRMEP beamline of ELETTRA, the SR facility in Trieste, Italy. The mammographic facility and the preliminary results of the clinical trial are presented in this contribution.
Method and Materials: The distance between the SR source and the patient is about 30 m; the main features of the X-ray beam are: monochromaticity at ~0.2% bandwith in the energy range 8-35 keV, photon flux of about 108 ph/(mm2 s) and dimensions of 21 cm x 3.5 mm at the compressed breast. An innovative dosimetric system allows the on-line dose control during the examination. The images are acquired by scanning the patient, in prone position, in front of the stationary laminar beam; the average scanning time is about 10 s. The detector is a screen film system; it is at ~2 m from the breast in order to fulfil the so-called Phase Contrast (PhC) requirements. The breast thickness and glandularity defines the optimal beam energy for each examination. The patients are enrolled by radiologists, after routine examinations, on the basis of BI-RADS classification, according the research program approved by the local Ethical Committee.
Results: This communication concerns the first 9 patients underwent the SR PhC mammography; the images match the quality obtained in previous in vitro studies. With reference to conventional mammography the diagnostic quality of the radiological images is better, without increasing the delivered dose to the patient.
Description of purpose: Treatment of osteoarthritis in stages of reversible disease requires high resolution visualization of early cartilage damage and of subchondral bone. Here, DEI (Diffraction Enhanced Imaging) is compared to MRI, computed X-ray tomography (CT) and ultrasound (UI) in its ability to detect early degeneration of articular cartilage. In contrast to conventional absorptive X-ray examination where cartilage is poorly visible DEI captures cartilage by detection of selected refraction. Methods: Human femoral heads were investigated by macroscopic inspection, conventional X-ray examination, DEI, MRI, CT, UI and histology. DEI is an imaging technique applying a monochromatic parallel synchrotron X-ray beam. Image features were verified by histology. Results: DEI, MRI and ultrasound lead to interpretable images of cartilage. Of all techniques, DEI provided highest image resolution revealing the structural tissue architecture. MRI needs a very long exposure time (more than 5 hours) to achieve comparable quality. Application of ultrasound is limited because of joint geometry and, at high sound frequency, the necessity of close contact between cartilage and transducer. DEI is an experimental technique which needs synchrotron radiation. Conclusion: DEI is a very promising imaging technique for visualization of cartilage and bone. It may serve as an excellent analytical tool for experimental studies. Our pictures show a part of future of optimised techniques for imaging. Synchrotron based DEI may lead the way towards optimisation of improved techniques for imaging. Upon development of adequate small scale X-ray sources, DEI will also be an important supplementation for medical imaging.
An attempt has been made, for the first time, to extend the capabilities of diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) using low
concentrations of a contrast agent. A phantom has been constructed to accommodate a systematic series of diluted bromine deoxyuridase (BrDU) samples in liquid form. This was imaged using a conventional DEI arrangement and at a range of energies traversing the Br K-edge. The images were analyzed to provide a quantitative measure of contrast as a function of X-ray energy and (BrDU) concentration. The results indicate that the particular experimental arrangement was not optimized to exploit the potential of this contrast enhancement and several suggestions are discussed to improve this further.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Ionization, Electronics, X-rays, Single photon, Spatial resolution, X-ray detectors, Modulation transfer functions, Analog electronics, Digital signal processing
In this work a combination of an ionization chamber with one-dimensional spatial resolution and a MicroCAT structure will be presented. The combination between gas gain operations and integrating front-end electronics yields a dynamic range as high as eight to nine orders of magnitude. Therefore this device is well suitable for medical imaging or applications such as small angle x-ray scattering, where the requirements on the dynamic of the detector are exceptional high. Basically the described detector is an ionization chamber adapted to fan beam geometry with an active area of 192 mm and a pitch of the anode strips of 150 micrometer. In the vertical direction beams as high as 10 mm can be accepted. Every read-out strip is connected to an analogue integrating electronics channel realized in a custom made VLSI chip. A MicroCAT structure utilized as a shielding grid enables frame rates as high as 10kHz. The high dynamic range observed stems from the fact that the MicroCAT enables active electron amplification in the gas. Thus a single photon resolution can be obtained for low photon fluxes even with the integrating electronics. The specialty of this device is that for each photon flux the gas amplification can be adjusted in such a fashion that the maximum DQE value is achieved.
Preliminary experiments have been carried out in order to evaluate the potential of the Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (DEI) technique in combination with contrast agents not based on X-ray absorption properties, but that provide strong scattering signals. The contrast agents tested in this study are microbubble echo-enhancing agents, usually used in ultrasound examinations, which are completely invisible with conventional X-ray absorption techniques.
A DEI set-up has been implemented at the Medical Beamline at the synchrotron radiation facility ELETTRA (Trieste, Italy). The analyzer crystal is a single flat silicon crystal utilized in the [111] reflection. By shifting the analyzer crystal to different positions of the rocking curve it is possible to detect the scattered photons; in particular, if the sample consists of a large number of particles with size smaller than the pixel size of the detector, an overall effect can be visualized. Phantoms containing ultrasound contrast agents have been built and imaged at different angular positions of the analyzer crystal at 17 keV and 25 keV. For all the phantoms a much stronger contrast has been measured in comparison to the contrast evaluated from the images produced with normal absorption methods.
Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (DEI) is a powerful X-ray imaging technique that allows the visualization of structures having different refraction and/or absorption properties with respect to the background. In DEI, the sample is irradiated with a monochromatic and highly collimated X-ray beam, and the outgoing beam is analyzed by means of a perfect crystal. A comparison was drawn among DEI images of a standard (ACR) and a custom phantom using different harmonic diffraction orders. Images were obtained at two different synchrotron beamlines, the SYRMEP beamline at Elettra and the X15A beamline at the NSLS (Brookhaven, NY), utilizing a double-crystal Si monochromator and a single-crystal Si analyzer, operated in the symmetric, non-dispersive Bragg configuration. The harmonic order was separated by placing a refractive prism between the two crystals of the monochromator. The use of the and the reflections resulted in a 5-fold improvement in the analyzer angular sensitivity, consequently enhancing the extinction and refraction contrasts with respect to the reflection. The detail visibility was improved by 1-2 orders of magnitude. By means of the refractive prism technique, even higher harmonics might be used, thus promising even better image quality.
Conventional x-ray imaging relies almost entirely on differences in the absorption of x-rays between tissues to produce contrast. While these differences are substantial between bone and soft tissue, they are very small between different soft tissue types resulting in poor visualization of soft tissues. Diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) is currently in development by several groups as a new imaging modality that exploits information contained within the x- ray scattering distribution at low angles. We have used the SYRMEP beam line at the Elettra Synchrotron facility in Trieste, Italy to image a variety of tissue specimens, together with several phantoms. Mono-energetic photons in the range 17 keV to 25 keV were used with an analyzer crystal which diffracted the x-rays onto a detector. We have obtained some spectacular images which display remarkable contrast and resolution. The images can be processed to separate the pure absorption and pure refraction effects in a quantitative manner. These images demonstrate that DEI provides tissue morphology information not accessible with conventional radiographic imaging. The contrast caused primarily by refraction as the x-ray passes from one tissue type to another in the specimen is evident. Since x-ray refraction is much less energy dependent than absorption there is considerable potential for extremely low dose imaging. We believe that the potential of this technique is considerable and we present dat to illustrate the quality of the images.
A new experimental station for soft x-ray microscopy is under construction at BACH beamline, at Elettra Synchrotron Radiation Facility (Italy). This station will be devoted both to scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) and photoemission microscopy (SPEM), with spatial resolution of about 50 nm. A Fresnel Zone Plate (FZP) will provide the micro-focusing of the beam delivered by the monochromator of BACH. The photon beam features are high resolving power (30000-5000 in the 40-1500 eV range), high flux (more than 1011 photons/s after the exit slit) and the possibility to select the light polarization. The experimental chamber will host several photon and electron detectors which should provide spatially resolved information of the bulk and surface composition. The expected acquisition times are of the order of the seconds for STXM and less than 1 minute for SPEM. The branch line hosting this station will start from the exit slit of the BACH monochromator. A toroidal mirror will focus the exit slit-spot on a pinhole which will be the source for the following FZP. With a 10x10 micrometers 2 pinhole it will be possible to obtain a spot of about 50x50 nm2 with enough flux (from 108 to 109 ph/sec) to perform microscopic experiments with polarized radiation. In this paper we present the optical scheme of the instrument as well as the foreseen performances in terms of resolution and flux.
Modern X-ray diffraction applications demand for imaging detectors with large pixel number, high intensity precision, high rate capability and dead time free operation. Detailed studies with a simulation program, which has been developed to investigate the performance of different detector types, show that a large area gaseous single photon counter is very well suited to meet the aforementioned requirements. The prototype detector, which has been built according to the specification profile from the simulations, belongs to a new generation of gaseous detectors using novel technologies for both gas amplification (using a MicroCAT) and position encoding (using 2D resistive charge division). This local interpolation method combines the advantages of a pure pixel read-out (high local and global rate capability) with those of a projecting read-out (small number of channels). The current prototype system has an active area of 28 X 28 mm2 with effectively 140 X 140 pixels. Various test measurements at synchrotron light sources with biological samples have been performed demonstrating the good spatial resolution (around 300 micrometers FWHM), the high intensity precision (only Poisson limited) and the high rate capability (exceeding 1 MHz spot rate). Moreover, time resolved measurements in the microsecond domain have been performed, and fine angular slicing has been applied to protein crystallography experiments. The detector has a high reliability and robustness, particularly when compared to conventional gaseous detectors, and the extension of the technology used to larger active areas is feasible.
One major goal of modern radiology is the improvement of image quality and subsequently the development of sophisticated radiographic methods which are capable of detecting low contrast and small size details in organic samples in particular in mammography where the requirements on contrast resolution and spatial resolution are extremely high. Significant improvements in image quality have been achieved by the SYRMEP (SYnchrotron Radiation for MEdical Physics) collaboration which has designed and built a beamline devoted to medical physics at the synchrotron radiation facility ELETTRA in Trieste (Italy). The detection system developed for digital mammography consists of a silicon pixel detector with a pixel size of 200 X 300 micrometers 2 used in the `edge on' configuration in order to achieve a high conversion efficiency. The detector is equipped with a low noise VLSI amplifier chain; at present. Recently, a multilayer detector prototype has been implemented, consisting of a stack of three single silicon strip layers. This set-up provides a larger sensitive area and subsequently a reduction of the exposure time. Digital images of mammographic phantoms and of in vitro full breast tissue samples show a higher contrast resolution and lower absorbed dose when compared to conventional mammographic images. Besides, further promising studies have been initiated developing novel imaging methods based on the phase effects evidenced by the high degree of coherence of the SR source. At the SYRMEP beamline several experiments have been carried out in order to exploit the potentials of two different techniques, Phase Contrast and Diffraction Enhanced Imaging, respectively. Images showing better detail visibility and enhanced contrast were produced with dose lower or comparable to the conventional one.
Gaseous detectors are excellent candidates for x-ray imaging devices which are suitable in the energy range between 5 and 90 kV. Especially the extreme low inherent noise floor which in principle is limited by the read out electronics only in combination with the high flexibility in the choice of gases and the geometry result in high detective quantum efficiency values (DQE). A DQE close to one is valuable especially in medical imaging applications where in general the image quality is dose limited. Moreover, recent developments in gas amplification structures such as the Micro-CAT allow fast imaging with a single photon precision also for integrating devices resulting in high DQE values even for low photon flux applications.
Hans-Juergen Besch, U. Grossmann, R. Langer, Hermann Schenk, Albert Walenta, Wolf-Rainer Dix, Joachim Heuer, Walter Graeff, G. Illing, Michael Lohmann, Ralf-Hendrik Menk, L. Schildwaechter, U. Tafelmeier, Wolfram Kupper
A position-sensitive 1D x-ray detector with large dynamic range (> 214:1) for high photon fluxes with fast image recording sequence has been developed for noninvasive subtraction coronary angiography. Detailed investigations of the basic physical processes in the detector allow the quantitative description of the important detector performance parameters. As an example a detector with a position resolution of 430 micrometers FWHM and a detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of at least 58% (for 20,000 photons/pixel) for 33 keV photons in a XeCO2 gas mixture at 20 bars is described. A procedure has been developed for determination of the DQE from the data. Investigations at high beam intensities showed that only at a flux above 2.4 1010 photons/s pixel saturation effects become apparent. These observations are quantitatively explained by a newly developed dynamic ion chamber model. Recently a number of noninvasive angiographies from patients of diagnostic quality were obtained at HASYLAB, DESY.
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