Application of a hybrid pixel detector to powder diffraction

Results obtained using a hybrid pixel photon-counting detector in powder diffraction experiments are presented. The detector works at room temperature and its dynamic response ranges from 0.01 photons pixel^-1 s^-1 up to 10⁶ photons pixel^-1 s^-1. The pixel sizes are 0.33 mm × 0.33 mm for a total area of 68 mm × 68 mm. On recording high-resolution diffraction patterns of powders, a reduction of the experimental time by more than a factor of 20 is obtained without loss of data quality. The example of an X-zeolite shows that such detectors can be used for very demanding anomalous experiments. In situ experiments of quenching liquid oxides show that frames of 0.01 s can be achieved for studying such processes.