Performance limits of a single photon counting pixel system

X-ray imaging using hybrid pixel detectors in single photon counting mode is a relatively recent and exciting development. The photon counting mode implies that each pixel has a threshold in energy above which a hit is recorded. Sharing of charge between adjacent pixels would therefore lead to a loss of registered hits and for medical imaging applications to a higher patient dose. This explains why the demand for high spatial resolution and consequently small pixel sizes (<100 <mu>m) motivates the Medipix2(1) collaboration to study the effects of charge sharing between pixels on system performance. Two different simulation codes are used to simulate the energy loss inside the detector and the charge transport towards the pixel electrodes. The largest contribution to the lateral spreading of charge comes from diffusion and can result in a considerable loss of detection efficiency in photon counting systems for small pixel sizes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.