The value of this type of detector, a high-performance X-ray imaging camera, is evident from our Phase I results, where our prototype detector played a crucial role in the ground calibration of the two X-ray telescopes that will fly on the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission, a NASA SMEX (Small Explorer program) mission scheduled for launch in 2012. The proposed detector, with its enhanced performance, will allow its use for several specific new missions and mission areas, including future X-ray missions for space astronomical observatories, which include the Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI), Spectrum Roentgen Gamma (SRG, using a medium-X-ray-energy survey instrument ART-XC), and the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium Explorer (WHIMex) Mission. Furthermore, the proposed detector can be used for in-situ characterization during X-ray mirror assembly, as is performed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and MSFC. Due to its high intrinsic spatial resolution, individual X-ray and gamma-ray photon counting ability, spectral resolution suitable for many applications, and large imaging area, the proposed detector is expected to find numerous applications in fields of high resolution X-ray/gamma-ray detection, small animal single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and other nuclear medicine applications, X-ray medical imaging (including mammography, digital tomosynthesis and computed tomography), time-resolved X-ray diffraction studies at synchrotron sources, dynamic X-ray imaging of hypervelocity projectiles, X-ray microscopy, and low-light optical tomography. With its very high spatial resolution and high frame rate performance, this imaging detector may also be used for dynamic nondestructive evaluations (NDEs) of spacecraft and other components, which are routinely performed for quality assurance and design improvement purposes. The current annual commercial market for X-ray and nuclear imagers is estimated to be several billion dollars, a significant fraction of which represents areas where the proposed detector technology may be utilized.
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