X-ray spectroscopy with a photon-counting SiPM-based scintillation detector

Abstract

Abstract A new low-energy X-ray detector was built and operated, using a plastic scintillator coupled to a large area SiPM. The signal is amplified with a low-noise, high gain, custom circuit providing excellent photon-counting capabilities and allowing a quasi-digital measurement. The detector was tested using X-rays coming from molybdenum K lines (17.4 and 19.6 keV), and an energy resolution of 28% is obtained with 20 photoelectrons per X-ray photon on average.