@article{SendAbboudHartmannetal.2013, author = {Send, Sebastian and Abboud, Ali and Hartmann, Robert and Huth, M. and Leitenberger, Wolfram and Pashniak, N. and Schmidt, J. and Str{\"u}der, Lothar and Pietsch, Ullrich}, title = {Characterization of a pnCCD for applications with synchrotron radiation}, series = {Nuclear instruments \& methods in physics research : a journal on accelerators, instrumentation and techniques applied to research in nuclear and atomic physics, materials science and related fields in physics ; A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment}, volume = {711}, journal = {Nuclear instruments \& methods in physics research : a journal on accelerators, instrumentation and techniques applied to research in nuclear and atomic physics, materials science and related fields in physics ; A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment}, number = {5}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0168-9002}, doi = {10.1016/j.nima.2013.01.044}, pages = {132 -- 142}, year = {2013}, abstract = {In this work we study the response of a pnCCD by means of X-ray spectroscopy in the energy range between 6 key and 20 key and by Laue diffraction techniques. The analyses include measurements of characteristic detector parameters like energy resolution, count rate capability and effects of different gain settings. The limit of a single photon counting operation in white beam X-ray diffraction experiments is discussed with regard to the occurrence of pile-up events, for which the energy information about individual photons is lost. In case of monochromatic illumination the pnCCD can be used as a fast conventional CCD with a charge handling capacity (CHC) of about 300,000 electrons per pixel. If the CHC is exceeded, any surplus charge will spill to neighboring pixels perpendicular to the transfer direction due to electrostatic repulsion. The possibilities of increasing the number of storable electrons are investigated for different voltage settings by exposing a single pixel with X-rays generated by a microfocus X-ray source. The pixel binning mode is tested as an alternative approach that enables a pnCCD operation with significantly shorter readout times.}, language = {en} }