Open-Source Data Analysis Tool for Spectral Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Using Spectroscopic Photon-Counting Detector

Sabri Amer; Andrew Xu; Aldo Badano; Eshan Dahal

doi:10.3390/s24165307

Open-Source Data Analysis Tool for Spectral Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Using Spectroscopic Photon-Counting Detector

Sensors (Basel). 2024 Aug 16;24(16):5307. doi: 10.3390/s24165307.

Authors

Sabri Amer¹, Andrew Xu¹, Aldo Badano¹, Eshan Dahal¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA.

Abstract

Spectral small-angle X-ray scattering (sSAXS) is a powerful technique for material characterization from thicker samples by capturing elastic X-ray scattering data in angle- and energy-dispersive modes at small angles. This approach is enabled by the use of a 2D spectroscopic photon-counting detector that provides energy and position information of scattered photons when a sample is irradiated by a polychromatic X-ray beam. Here, we describe an open-source tool with a graphical interface for analyzing sSAXS data obtained from a 2D spectroscopic photon-counting detector with a large number of energy bins. The tool takes system geometry parameters and raw detector data to output 1D scattering patterns and a 2D spatially-resolved scattering map in the energy range of interest. We validated these features using data from samples of caffeine powder with well-known scattering peaks. This open-source tool will facilitate sSAXS data analysis for various material characterization applications.

Keywords: X-ray scattering; data analysis tool; material characterization; photon-counting detector; spectral SAXS.

Grants and funding

S.A. and A.X. acknowledge funding by appointments to the Research Participation Program at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the US Department of Energy and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).