ASCANIO: a backscattering X-ray multichannel spectrometer for synchrotron applications

X-ray spectrometers with high count rate capability are becoming essential to provide higher speeds in synchrotron measurements, like in X-ray fluorescence mapping (XFM). Monolithic multichannel silicon drift detectors (SDDs) enable the creation of dense and high-performance matrices to reach this goal. In this paper we show the results of the development of ASCANIO, a 16-channel backscattering X-ray spectrometer based on SDD monolithic modules. The solid angle and count-rate uniformity in X-ray detection have been optimized thanks to a `tilted' configuration of the SDD units. ASCANIO underwent preliminary testing in the laboratory, where the system achieved around -42°C with an internal pressure of 5.1 × 10^-6 mbar. During further verification of its spectroscopic performance, the spectrometer showed resolutions as low as 134 eV FWHM at the Mn Kα peak. After preliminary testing the full system was commissioned on beamline P06 at PETRA III (DESY). Here the effects of the tilted configuration could be observed, and the system achieved a 20 Mcps cumulative output count rate with a dead time of 20%. As a demonstration of ASCANIO's usability, an example use case is demonstrated, where ASCANIO was used for an XFM analysis of a biological sample.