ADVENT DIAMOND, INC. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 13a

Description

This proposal is to develop a technology to address DoE’s need for transparent x-ray detectors for synchrotron beamlines facilities. The increasing number of users with different beam energy, flux, shape and size requirements mean that the beam needs adjustments between each use. Conventional beam monitoring technology based on toroidal mirrors is time consuming and reduces the user time and increases the lead time between experiments. Advent Diamond will solve this problem with the advancement of diamond x-ray detectors with transparency of >90% for 5 keV beam and pixel size less than 5 m that has the ability to measure wide range of 107 photons/s to 1016 photons/sec per pixels. In Phase I, Advent will demonstrate the feasibility of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) and p- type/intrinsic/n-type (PIN) pixilated diamond x-ray detectors. These detectors will enable the measurement of a wide range of photon fluxes, from of 107 photons/s to 1016 photons/sec. Phase I MIM devices will be based on a thin diamond substrate to demonstrate transparency and handling of thin wafers. Phase I PIN structures will demonstrate the feasibility of making pixilated PIN diamond x-ray detectors, which to our knowledge has not yet been demonstrated. The PIN detectors have a number of potential advantages, including being able to remove trapped charges, resetting the device to peak sensitivity. The detectors will be characterized in wide range of photon flux x-ray radiation beam at BNL using NSLS-II XFP beamline. Advent Diamond will us propriety detector design and doped diamond deposition to fabricate innovative PIN diamond detector structures. We are collaborating with Kyma Technologies for electronic grade substrate material and Radiation Imaging Detectors readout electronics for the detector. Proposed x-ray detector will have numerous technical, economic, and social benefits including advantages for Department of Energy and other federal agencies, research institutes and medical imaging. X-ray beamlines enable an understanding of both human-made materials, which advance technology, and biomolecules, which are essential for understanding disease and finding potential treatments. Therefore, more advanced and rapid beam imaging would enable a better understanding of the medical treatments, beam characteristics and accommodation of more experiments, which in turn leads to more scientific and technical breakthroughs, benefiting the public.