arraydetektorer

Arraydetektorer are sensor devices composed of many individual sensing elements arranged in a regular grid to provide spatially resolved measurements of radiation, light, or other physical quantities. They are used wherever a combination of sensitivity and high spatial resolution is required, from scientific experiments to medical imaging and industrial inspection.

A typical array detector consists of an active sensor layer segmented into small elements (pixels or channels) and a readout system that collects and processes signals from each element. The arrangement enables two- or three-dimensional imaging by mapping signal amplitude or time of arrival across the array. Readout electronics, often implemented in custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), provide amplification, digitization, and data formatting, while data processing units reconstruct images, tracks, or dose distributions.

Common types include semiconductor pixel arrays (such as silicon or germanium detectors) and scintillator-based arrays coupled to photodetectors (for example, silicon photomultipliers or traditional photomultiplier tubes). Other examples are bolometer or microbolometer arrays used for thermal imaging, and charge-coupled device (CCD) or CMOS imaging arrays for light detection. Calibration and uniformity correction are important to compensate for gain variations, dark noise, and geometric distortion.

Applications span high-energy physics experiments (tracking detectors), medical imaging (PET, CT, SPECT), astronomical instrumentation (x-ray and optical detectors), security scanning, and non-destructive testing. The choice of material, pixel size, and readout architecture balances spatial resolution, sensitivity, energy or timing resolution, and achievable data rates.