Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)

In overcoming the ultimate SAXS challenge, hybrid-photon-counting detectors played several important roles. The first one was to ensure noise-free performance and a high dynamic range in order to achieve accurate measurements over a very high intensity distribution, down to very low angles. The second role was to ensure stable and reliable image detection that enabled flawless background subtraction. And the third related to design flexibility that is inherent to hybrid-photon technology. 

Thanks to the ability to create detectors with vacuum compatibility and removable windows, parasitic scattering could be removed, and this further improved data quality. However, the creativity did not stop there. Custom-made detectors can now be designed with a beam pass, while the latest off-shelf products (EIGER2) introduce a second threshold, continuous readout, and advanced triggering schemes. This enables suppression of cosmics, as well as acquisitions down to the millisecond regime, thereby allowing for monitoring of fast kinetics – even for macromolecules in near-native solutions. And as an additional benefit, the (same) detector is readily employed for WAXS measurements, either simultaneously or interchangeably with SAXS. 

In laboratory machines, hybrid-photon-counting detectors are running almost 24/7 to collect X-ray data on various materials, from dispersed nanoparticles to biological molecules. The data quality is great, as long as you don’t need ultra-fast measurements.

• Our large-area detectors have small pixels for a wide Q-range and high angular resolution for SAXS and WAXS.
• Optional vacuum compatibility and windowless design to remove parasitic scattering.
• Collect a high or unlimited number of frames, without noise and at a high dynamic range.