Hybrid Imaging Detectors in X-Ray Phase-Contrast Applications

X-Ray Phase-Contrast Imaging (XPCI) techniques are gaining increasing interest not only within the synchrotron radiation community, where most of them were first developed and implemented, but also among X-ray imaging experts who make use of standard laboratory sources. While conventional X-ray imaging typically depicts the attenuation of an investigated sample, XPCI allows access to complementary information such as refraction and ultra-small-angle-scattering (USAXS). These additional contrast sources lead to a major enhancement in the visibility of structures featuring poor attenuation contrast such as in biological soft tissues and plastic-based samples. Additionally, the USAXS signal reveals inhomogeneities on a scale smaller than the system’s spatial resolution, being suited for the investigation of a wide range of microparticulate samples, spanning, e.g., from lung tissues to composite materials. Independently from XPCI, recent years have witnessed unprecedented development in the field of hybrid X-ray imaging detectors. Novel devices have both led to major advantages over conventional indirect conversion detectors, such as higher efficiency and/or higher spatial resolution, and opened up entirely new possibilities, such as pixel-based energy discrimination of photons, spectral performances, and super-resolution imaging. In this framework, the aim of the chapter is to provide a link between XPCI and novel detector technologies, focusing on the specific role of detectors in the phase signal formation process for the most common XPCI techniques. Adding to the theoretical background, several successful examples of state-of-the-art detectors’ integration with XPCI are provided, as well as a number of foreseeable applications strongly leveraging on novel detectors’ performances.