Imaging at Extremes - The Development of Compound Semiconductor Detectors for Photon Science

From revealing the structures of life-saving medicines to reading texts hidden inside ancient scrolls, modern synchrotrons have transformed our ability to explore the world at the atomic scale. With major upgrades underway at facilities such as Diamond Light Source, and the emergence of X-ray free-electron lasers, scientists now have access to X-ray beams of unprecedented brightness and intensity. These remarkable sources promise new insights into materials, biology, energy technologies, and quantum systems, but they also present a fundamental challenge; how do we build detectors capable of measuring such extreme photon fluxes?

This seminar will explore the physics and engineering behind the next generation of X-ray imaging detectors. Particular emphasis will be placed on high atomic number compound semiconductor materials, including Cd(Zn)Te and perovskites, which offer far greater stopping power for hard X-rays than conventional silicon sensors. While some of these materials have been highly successful in medical imaging and radiation spectroscopy, their application at modern photon science facilities is limited by subtle charge transport effects that emerge under intense illumination. At sufficiently high fluxes, the motion and trapping of charge carriers can fundamentally alter detector behaviour, creating new challenges for accurate imaging.

Drawing on recent experimental studies performed at synchrotron facilities across Europe, this talk will discuss the opportunities and limitations of these emerging detector technologies and consider whether they are ready to meet the demands of a new generation of light sources. Along the way, it will highlight how research driven by the demands of large-scale scientific facilities is enabling advances in detector technologies with applications extending far beyond the laboratory, including medical imaging, security screening, and industrial inspection.

Short Bio

Dr Matthew C. Veale received his MPhys in Physics with Nuclear Astrophysics and PhD in Radiation Detection and Measurement from the University of Surrey, UK. He has worked at the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory for over 20 years, where his research has focused on the development of advanced X-ray and gamma-ray detector technologies based on silicon, gallium arsenide, cadmium telluride, and cadmium zinc telluride for applications spanning large-scale science facilities, medicine, security, and industry. He is currently Head of the Detector Development Group within the STFC Technology Department, leading programmes in next-generation radiation detector technologies and scientific instrumentation.

Dr Veale was one of the founding members of the High Energy X-ray Imaging Technology (HEXITEC) collaboration, which has delivered world-leading spectroscopic imaging systems now deployed at research facilities around the world and in the next generation of scanners for nuclear medicine. His current research interests include high-Z semiconductor detectors, ultrafast imaging systems for synchrotrons and X-ray free-electron lasers, and the development of emerging detector materials, like perovskites, for future photon science applications.