A parallel plate chamber with pixel read-out for very high data rate

The authors report the preliminary test results on the performance of a device designed for the imaging of X-rays at a very high data rate. A prototype with 256 readout channels has been build and tested. The detector is a two-step parallel-plate chamber. The anode is made up of a chessboard of pads, onto which a thin germanium layer is evaporated to restore the electrical continuity. Each individual pad can be read out independently on the back of the board. The rate capability has been increased by subdividing the readout system as much as possible (1 pixel/mm²). This has been made possible by the continuous structure of the parallel-plate chamber (PPC)