Photon Detectors are Catching Up

Over the last 10 years, we have seen a paradigm change in the approach towards detector developments for accelerator-based X-ray science. Until the last decade, scientists at light sources used or adapted detectors that had been developed for entirely different applications, such as astronomy or medical imaging. Undisputedly, these systems made it possible to do state-of-the-art science, and as long as the source brilliance kept increasing exponentially, new science and new areas developed. However, it is also beyond doubt that these adopted detection systems were not able to get the most out of the source potential. The few dedicated development projects that were undertaken never managed to have a significant impact.