The past ten years have seen tremendous advances and progress in X-ray detector technology available for crystallography. Hybrid Photon Counting (HPC) detectors have brought crystallography the advantages of single-photon counting and direct detection in a silicon solid-state sensor. The absence of readout noise and detector dark signal ensure high data quality irrespective of exposure time or number of acquired frames; a digital counter in each pixel enables highest dynamic range and allows the collection of low- and high-resolution data simultaneously. Direct detection of X-rays in solid-state sensors provides a small, sharp point-spread function, a critical advantage for accurately measuring closely spaced reflections or diffuse scattering. Last but not least, direct detection with CdTe as a sensor material provides more than 90% quantum efficiency and makes best use of the precious photons from high-energy sources.
This presentation will give an overview of how HPC technology works and why it provides a number of unique advantages. Furthermore, some highlights from synchrotron and laboratory diffraction experiments will demonstrate how HPC detectors facilitate contemporary crystallography.