A new type of image sensor is emerging from the most advanced image sensor R&D laboratories in Japan. This sensor, termed an active pixel sensor (APS), may one day supplant charge-coupled devices (CCDs) in many applications. The charge-coupled device relies on the shifting of charge to read out the image. The active pixel sensor acts like a random access memory (RAM) device wherein each pixel c...

Future high-resolution imaging x-ray observatories may require detectors with both fine spatial resolution and high quantum efficiency at relatively energies (E ? 5 keV). A silicon detector meeting these requirements will have a ratio of thickness to pixel size six or more, roughly twice that legacy sensors. The larger aspect such sensor’s detection volume implies greater diffusion x-ray-produc...