LAMBDA — Large Area Medipix3-Based Detector Array

Abstract

Medipix3 is a photon-counting readout chip for X-ray detection. It has a small pixel size (55 μm) and a high frame rate with zero dead time, which makes it attractive for experiments at synchrotrons. Using Medipix3, DESY are developing the LAMBDA (Large Area Medipix3-Based Detector Array) system. A single LAMBDA module carries either a single large silicon sensor of 1536 by 512 pixels, or two smaller high-Z sensors. The sensor is bonded to 12 Medipix3 chips, and mounted on a ceramic carrier board. The readout system for the module then provides a fast FPGA, a large RAM and four 10 Gigabit Ethernet links to allow operation at high frame rates. Multiple modules may then be tiled together a larger area. Currently, the first large silicon modules have been constructed and tested at low speed, and the firmware for fast readout is being developed.