Direct conversion X-ray sensors: sensitivity, DQE and MTF

Imaging characteristics of photoconductive flat panel X-ray image detectors, such as X-ray sensitivity, detective quantum efficiency (DQE), and resolution in terms of the modulation transfer function (MTF) are examined with applications to amorphous selenium (a-Se), polycrystalline HgI₂ and CdZnTe detectors. A theoretical model has been developed for the calculation of X-ray sensitivity of a pixellated detector by using the Shockley-Ramo theorem, the weighting potential of the individual pixel and the final trapped charge distribution across the photoconductor. The X-ray sensitivity of pixellated X-ray detectors mostly depends on the mobility and lifetime product of charges that move towards the pixel electrodes, and the extent of dependence increases with decreasing pixel per unit detector thickness. A cascaded linear system model that includes incomplete charge collection and interaction depth dependent conversion gain and charge collection stages is considered for the calculation of the zero spatial frequency detective quantum efficiency DQE(0) of a direct conversion X-ray image detector. The DQE(0) performance of a-Se, HgI₂ and CdZnTe detectors is examined for fluoroscopic applications. It is shown that, in addition to high quantum efficiency, both high conversion gain and high charge collection efficiency are required to improve the DQE performance of an X-ray image detector