The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) jointly with the Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste (EST) operates a multipurpose X-ray spectrometry endstation at the X-ray Fluorescence beamline (10.1L). The facility has been available to external users since the beginning of 2015 through the peer-review process of EST. Using this collaboration framework, the IAEA supports and promotes synchrotron-radiation-based research and training activities for various research groups from the IAEA Member States, especially those who have limited previous experience and resources to access a synchrotron radiation facility. This paper aims to provide a broad overview about various analytical capabilities, intrinsic features and performance figures of the IAEA X-ray spectrometry endstation through the measured results. The IAEA–EST endstation works with monochromatic X-rays in the energy range 3.7–14 keV for the Elettra storage ring operating at 2.0 or 2.4 GeV electron energy. It offers a combination of different advanced analytical probes, e.g. X-ray reflectivity, X-ray absorption fine-structure measurements, grazing-incidence X-ray fluorescence measurements, using different excitation and detection geometries, and thereby supports a comprehensive characterization for different kinds of nanostructured and bulk materials.

This paper presents the design of a front-end circuit for monolithic active pixel sensors. The circuit operates with a sensor featuring a small, low-capacitance (< 2 fF) collection electrode and is integrated in the DPTS chip, a proof-of-principle prototype of 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm including a matrix of 32 × 32 pixels with a pitch of 15 μm. The chip is implemented in the 65 nm imaging technology from the Tower Partners Semiconductor Co. foundry and was developed in the framework of the EP-R&D program at CERN to explore this technology for particle detection. The front-end circuit has an area of 42 μm ² and can operate with a power consumption as low as 12 nW. Measurements on the prototype relevant to the front-end will be shown to support its design.

HERD is a future experiment for the direct detection of high energy cosmic rays. The instrument is based on a calorimeter optimized not only for a good energy resolution but also for a large acceptance. Each crystal composing the calorimeter is equipped with two read-out systems: one based on wavelength-shifting fibers and the other based on two photodiodes with different active areas assembled in a monolithic package. In this paper, we describe the photodiode read-out system, focusing on experimental requirements, design and estimated performances. Finally, we show how these features lead to the flight model project of the photodiode read-out system.