DETECTOR ARRAYS IN SPECTROSCOPY

Spatially dispersed spectra of ions, electrons or photons are traditio nally measured by scanning the spectra across a narrow slit behind whi ch is a detector. However, the efficiency increase offered by arrays o f detectors is so large that their development is increasingly demandi ng the attention of spectrometer manufacturers. One-dimensional arrays of independent detectors (discrete electrode arrays) offer the highes t data accumulation rate as detection can occur simultaneously at many sites, but a high resolution array of this type requires much associa ted electronics and this has limited the size and the market of such d evices. The design and performance issues relating to discrete electro de arrays are discussed and a new high resolution array with all elect ronics integrated on a single silicon chip developed at Aberystwyth is described. A familiarity with silicon technology is not required by t he reader. It is shown that integration brings not only advantages of scale but also of performance.