THCOBRA X-ray imaging detector operating in Ne/CH4

Photon counting detection with energy resolution and the consequent possibility to improve image quality become possible with the development of energy resolved detectors. The 2D-Thick-COBRA (2D-THCOBRA), a recently introduced MicroPattern Gaseous Detector (MPGD), with an active area of 10 x 10 cm(2), specially designed for imaging purposes allows to determine the interaction position and also the energy of each single photon reaching the detector. In this work, the performance of a single 2D-THCOBRA operating in Ne/CH4 (95/5) (at 1 bar) is presented based on studies of charge gain, energy resolution, count rate, stability and spatial resolution. The detector shown a very stable operation allowing for gains of about 10(4). An energy resolution of 22% for 8 keV, count rates up to 1 x 10(6) Hz/mm(2) and a spatial resolution of about 1.2mm were achieved with this detector. Some examples of X-ray transmission imaging of some biological samples are also shown.