arXiv subjects

Keiichi Hirano

Publications and source records attributed to Keiichi Hirano.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Development of an Extensible Unified Control System Using the STARS Framework and Common Commands for Detector Control

A zooming optical system comprising two Fresnel zone plates (FZPs) was developed and installed at the AR-NE1A beamline of the Photon Factory, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Japan. To ensure reliable and versatile operation, we implemented a dedicated control architecture based on the Simple Transmission and Retrieval System (STARS) framework and the newly proposed STARS Common Commands for Detector Control (CCDC)---a data-acquisition (DAQ) state model and command set designed specifically for detector control. The system serves both as a practical control system for the zooming optics and as a demonstration of modular extensibility using STARS and detector interoperability through CCDC. The system has been commissioned, and its performance has been verified at the AR-NE1A beamline. The architecture enables flexible configuration of optical components and provides a unified interface for both routine operation and advanced experimental protocols.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2026

Recent application studies of an INTPIX4NA SOIPIX detector-based X-ray camera using an SiTCP-XG 10GbE-based high-speed readout system at KEK facilities

The Silicon-On-Insulator PIXel (SOIPIX) detector is a unique monolithic structure imaging device currently being developed by the SOIPIX group, led by the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). Our detector team at the KEK Photon Factory (PF) has developed an X-ray camera based on the INTPIX4NA SOIPIX detector. This detector provides a sensitive area of 14.1 $\times$ 8.7 $\mathrm{mm^2}$, with 425,984 pixels arranged in an 832-column $\times$ 512-row matrix and a pixel size of 17 $\times$ 17 $\mathrm{μm^{2}}$, and offers high spatial resolution and excellent sensitivity under low-intensity X-ray conditions. The readout system used in the X-ray camera is developed at the PF. It is equipped with SiTCP-XG, a 10 Gb Ethernet network controller implemented on a field-programmable gate array, enabling high-frame-rate imaging at several hundred hertz. We are currently investigating the applicability of this X-ray camera in several experiments at KEK. Herein, we report three recent application studies: (1) X-ray zooming microscope optics using two Fresnel zone plates at PF AR-NE1A; (2) phase-contrast X-ray imaging system using a two-crystal X-ray interferometer at PF BL-14C; and (3) nondestructive lithium detection in Li-ion battery electrode materials using muonic X-rays at J-PARC MLF Muon D2.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Development of a new phase-retrieval algorithm from a single-shot image for X-ray schlieren microscopy

In this paper, a new phase-retrieval algorithm from an X-ray schlieren image is proposed. The schlieren method allows phase-contrast imaging with an objective lens and a knife-edge filter placed at the back focal plane of the objective. This method finds a wide range of applications in the visible-light region for transparent specimen visualization. The schlieren contrast does not directly correspond to the phase shift. However, the phase map can be reconstructed from a single-shot schlieren image of a transparent and weak-phase object using the filtered Fourier transform method. A proof-of-principle experiment was performed in the hard-X-ray region at the AR-NE1A beamline of the Photon Factory facility at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK).

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2024

X-ray imaging camera using INTPIX4NA SOIPIX detector with SiTCP-XG 10GbE based high-speed readout system

The silicon-on-insulator pixel (SOIPIX) detector is a unique monolithic-structure imaging device currently being developed by the SOIPIX group led by the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). The detector team at KEK Photon Factory (PF) is also developing an X-ray camera using INTPIX4NA with a 14.1 $\times$ 8.7 $\mathsf{mm^2}$ sensitive area and 425,984 (832 column $\times$ 512 row matrix) pixels, with a pixel size of 17 $\times$ 17 $\mathsf{μm^2}$. The detector has high resolution and sensitivity for low-intensity X-rays, making it suitable for imaging in optical systems with lower X-ray intensities, such as an X-ray zooming microscope using two Fresnel zone plates (FZPs), which is also under development at PF. To enable imaging under such conditions, we developed a detector cooling system using a Peltier element to support longer exposure time (~0.5 seconds per frame). Additionally, we developed a new readout system using DAQ boards developed by PF, equipped with SiTCP-XG (network controller implemented on field-programmable gate array) that supports 10 Gbps Ethernet for high-frame-rate imaging at several hundred hertz. The new X-ray camera was tested at the PF BL-14A, BL-14B, and AR-NE1A experimental stations, and the resolution and sensitivity characteristics were confirmed. Given these confirmed characteristics, this X-ray camera is suitable for X-ray imaging using 5--20 keV X-rays under low-intensity, low-contrast conditions. These conditions are ideal for capturing soft tissues with poor contrast, objects with fine structures, and specimens vulnerable to radiation damage.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2018

Development of high-speed X-ray imaging system for SOI pixel detector

We are now developing new X-ray imaging system by using Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) Pixel Detectors. The SOI detector is a monolithic radiation imaging detector based on a 0.2um FD-SOI CMOS process. Special additional process steps are also developed to create fully depleted sensing region of 50~500um thick. SOI detector has up to mega pixels, so development of high speed Data Acquisition (DAQ) system is very important in conducting experiments. We have developed readout board named SEABAS2 (Soi EvAluation BoArd with Sitcp 2) for SOI detector. The SEABAS2 board has 16 channels of 65 MSPS ADCs, 4ch DAC, FPGAs and Gigabit Ethernet I/F. To achieve high throughput of the DAQ, we aggressively adopt parallel processing (data taking and storing) and implement FIFO buffers in software. DAQ throughput in previous DAQ system was 6 Hz (41 Mbps) for INTPIX4 detector which has 423 kpixels of 17 um square. With newly developed system, we could improve this rate to 90 Hz (613 Mbps). To take X-ray images for practical purpose such as 3D CT, user have to control the peripheral devices (moving stage, beam shutter, monitoring devices etc.) while taking images. To ease such data taking, we also implemented automatic control function of peripheral devices. Introduction of SOI detectors, the detail of the DAQ system and experimental results are presented.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2006

Analysis of the generation of photon pairs in periodically poled lithium niobate

The process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in nonlinear crystals makes it fairly easy to generate entangled photon states. It has been known for some time that the conversion efficiency can be improved by employing quasi-phase-matching in periodically poled crystals. Using two single-photon detectors, we have analyzed the photon pairs generated by SPDC in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal pumped by a femtosecond laser. Several parameters could be varied in our setup, allowing us to obtain data in close agreement with both thermal and Poissonian photon-pair distributions.

quant-ph↗