Imaging using energy discriminating radiation detector array

Industrial X-ray radiography is often done using a broad band energy source and always a broad band energy detector. There exist several major advantages in the use of narrow band sources and or detectors, one of which is the separation of scattered radiation from primary radiation. ARDEC has developed a large detector array system in which every detector element acts like a multi-channel analyzer. A radiographic image is created from the number of photons detected in each detector element, rather than from the total energy absorbed in the elements. For high energies, 25 KeV to 4 MeV, used in radiography, energy discriminating detectors have been limited to less than 20,000 photons per second per detector element. This rate is much too slow for practical radiography. Our detector system processes over two million events per second per detector pixel, making radiographic imaging practical. This paper expounds on the advantages of the ARDEC radiographic imaging process.