About

XIA LLC invents, develops and markets advanced digital data acquisition and processing systems for x-ray, gamma-ray, and other radiation detector applications in university research, national laboratories and industry. Generally speaking, our instruments fall into three broad categories – supporting x-ray detectors, gamma-ray detectors, and ultra-low background counting.

Our x-ray spectroscopy electronics span the spectrum from low-cost OEM cards for handheld and bench-top applications to PXI and standalone modules for ultra high rate counting at synchrotrons and elsewhere. Our nuclear spectroscopy electronics cover an ever wider range of (typically) research applications from pulse shape analysis using high speed scintillators to very high energy resolution HPGe spectrometry, to coincidence data collection in large nuclear physics detector arrays.

Our ultra-low background instrumentation combines anti-coincidence and pulse shape analysis to reliably count samples producing only a few counts per day. For example, our UltraLo alpha-particle counter, developed for quality control in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, achieves background rates below 0.0001 alphas/cm2.

XIA has a strong R&D component that undertakes advance product R&D, SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant research, and contract R&D to develop custom designs for our customers. An example is a 32 channel processor that achieves 1-2 eV energy resolution for 600 eV x-rays with superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) array detectors.

The combination of the digital signal processor (DSP) and field programmable gate array (FPGA) has revolutionized the field of x-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy, and XIA has been at the forefront of this revolution since the beginning.

Starting in 1994, XIA pioneered the concept of having the DSP and FPGA work in concert, with the FPGA carrying out pulse detection, filtering and pileup inspection tasks while the DSP executed higher level post-processing algorithms to produce the fastest and most powerful spectrometers on the market. In the years since we have added timing, coincidence inspection and pulse shape analysis capabilities so that our instruments continue to provide best-in-class performance across a wide range of commercial and experimental applications.

XIA’s Core Competencies

• Very high speed digital processing using a combination of FPGA and DSP technologies

• Scalable solutions for a wide range of radiation detection, timing and spectroscopy applications – from battery powered handhelds to large industrial or research installations

• Cost-effective customizations for unusual applications or integration into existing data collection systems

• Customized OEM processors, including specialized algorithm development

• Collaborative projects to develop specialized detector support electronics

• Pulse shape analysis and its application to real time particle identification

• Ultra low background radiation detection