Count rate linearity and spectral response of the Medipix3RX chip coupled to a 300μm silicon sensor under high flux conditions

For clinical X-ray imaging, the detector performance under high flux conditions is very important, with typical flux rates for modern CT systems reaching 109 photons s−1 mm−2 in the direct beam. In addition, for spectral imaging a good energy resolution under these conditions is needed. This poses difficulties, since pulse pileup in the pixel electronics does not only affect the count rate, leading to a deviation from the otherwise linear behavior, but also degrades the spectral response of the detector, making k-edge subtraction and other contrast enhancement techniques less efficient. In this paper, we investigate the count rate capabilities and the energy response of the Medipix3RX chip under high flux conditions using 10 keV monochromatic photons.