New X-Ray Detectors for Exotic Atom Research

Hadronic atoms being Coulomb-bound systems in which the electron is substituted by a hadron like a negatively charged K meson are perfect probes for the study of strong interaction at lowest energies using x-ray spectroscopy. New large area x-ray detectors (silicon drift detectors, SDDs) were developed to provide excellent energy resolution as well as timing capability. For the first time large area SDDs were employed to measure the L-lines of kaonic helium at high precision thus succeeding in clarifying a puzzle persisting for 30 years since the 70´s. An array of about 200 even more sophisticated SDDs (1 cm² SDDs with monolithically integrated FET) will be used to perform precision measurements (i.e., at the eV level) of kaonic hydrogen and kaonic deuterium at the DAFNE Phi factory of LNF/Italy. The new x-ray detectors and their performance for precision experiments in the accelerator environment are presented.