Performance of a Medipix3RX spectroscopic pixel detector with a high resistivity gallium arsenide sensor

High resistivity gallium arsenide is considered a suitable sensor material for spectroscopic X-ray imaging detectors. These sensors typically have thicknesses between a few hundred μm and 1 mm to ensure a high photon detection efficiency. However, for small pixel sizes down to several tens of μm, an effect called charge sharing reduces a detector's spectroscopic performance. The recently developed Medipix3RX readout chip overcomes this limitation by implementing a charge summing circuit, which allows the reconstruction of the full energy information of a photon interaction in a single pixel. In this work, we present the characterization of the first Medipix3RX detector assembly with a 500 μm thick high resistivity, chromium compensated gallium arsenide sensor. We analyze its properties and demonstrate the functionality of the charge summing mode by means of energy response functions recorded at a synchrotron. Furthermore, the imaging properties of the detector, in terms of its modulation transfer functions and signal-to-noise ratios, are investigated. After more than one decade of attempts to establish gallium arsenide as a sensor material for photon counting detectors, our results represent a breakthrough in obtaining detector-grade material. The sensor we introduce is therefore suitable for high resolution X-ray imaging applications.