Measuring and Modelling Lag in Amorphous Silicon Flat-Panel X-ray Detectors

Abstract: Detector lag, also referred to as afterglow, is a source of image degradation in flat-panel x-ray detectors, producing temporal artefacts that reduce image quality and quantitative accuracy. In this work, we present a robust and repeatable experimental framework for characterising long-term detector lag (from minutes to hours) under controlled step-up and step-down exposure transitions of particular relevance to tomography. The measured transition curves from an amorphous silicon detector with a CsI:Ti scintillator exhibit unexpected behaviour, with the detector response temporarily overshooting its final equilibrium intensity following step-up transitions, rather than exhibiting the gradual monotonic rise and decay typically expected. These curves were well fitted by multi-exponential functions, providing initial estimates for the depth of the charge traps in the scintillator. These parameters were incorporated into a proposed multi-trap rate equation model that reproduces the overall observed behaviour of both step-up and step-down transitions, including the overshoot that is not captured by previous models. Although discrepancies remain between the model and observation, this work establishes a reproducible methodology for detector lag characterisation and presents an improved physical model that offers greater insight into the mechanisms governing detector lag.