Fast X-ray/γ-ray imaging using electron multiplying CCD-based detector

New designs of electron multiplying charge coupled devices (EMCCDs) combine superior spatial resolution and low noise of a conventional CCD with the internal gain of an avalanche photodiode (APD). The presence of internal gain not only enhances the device sensitivity, but virtually eliminates the read noise associated with current CCDs, even when the device is read at very high frame rates of 100 frames per second or higher. Thus, the EMCCDs can simultaneously provide very high sensitivity and a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).At RMD we are exploiting these properties of EMCCD for use in radionuclide and X-ray imaging. Specifically, we have developed a system that makes use of an EMCCD with 512 × 512, 16 × 16 μm pixels. Special fiberoptic reducers have been designed to enhance the detector sensitive area. The system gain is software selectable and may be varied from 1 to 1000. This paper describes the detector design along with its γ-ray/X-ray imaging performance.