Towards large area X- and gamma-ray imagers based on Controlled Drift Detectors

The design solutions of a new generation of Controlled Drift Detectors (CDD) with larger area and flexible pixel size are discussed. The experimental results show that the active areas of few square centimetres and pixel sizes ranging from 50 to 180 μm can be safely designed keeping the readout time within few microseconds. Large-area CDD with excellent energy resolution and fast readout opens a variety of new biological, medical and industrial applications. Application examples to microsecond-scale time-resolved imaging of periodical processes, 2D/3D energy-weighted tomography and Compton telescope for γ-ray imaging with sub-millimeter resolution are proposed.