Direct soft x-ray response of a charge-coupled image sensor

To determine the feasibility of actively recovering data from x-ray imaging instruments used in the laser fusion program of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, we have used a commercial, silicon video sensor to detect patterns of soft x rays (1–8 keV). The sensor is a two-dimensional, frame transfer, charge-coupled device (CCD), modified to allow direct access of x rays to the sensitive silicon. We discuss the x-ray sensitivity, linearity, and dynamic range of the CCD.