Evaluating scintillator performance in time-resolved hard X-ray studies at synchrotron light sources

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• X-ray Physics
• High-Energy Physics

Background:

• Synchrotron radiation's properties (short pulses, small source, high flux) are ideal for dynamic material studies.
• High-resolution, time-resolved X-ray detection faces challenges in dynamic synchrotron experiments.
• Two-dimensional integrating detectors are crucial for dynamic radiography and diffraction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review challenges in high-resolution time-resolved indirect X-ray detection for dynamic synchrotron experiments.
• To model scintillator response to periodic synchrotron X-ray excitation.
• To propose optimized synchrotron bunch structures for enhanced time-resolved experiments.

Main Methods:

• Modeling scintillator response to periodic synchrotron X-ray excitation.
• Validating models against experimental data from Diamond Light Source (DLS) and European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).
• Calculating the dynamic range limits for time-resolved experiments based on scintillator properties and bunch separation.

Main Results:

• Scintillator response to synchrotron X-ray excitation was successfully modeled and validated.
• An upper bound for the dynamic range in time-resolved experiments was determined for various scintillators.
• New synchrotron bunch structures were proposed for DLS and ESRF.

Conclusions:

• Optimized scintillator materials (LYSO:Ce) and proposed bunch structures enable faster time-resolved experiments.
• Achieved interframe time of 189 ns with a maximum dynamic range of 98 (6.6 bits) is demonstrated.
• The findings advance the capability of probing transient deformation processes in materials.