Self-powered nano-porous aerogel x-ray sensor employing fast electron current.

Purpose: We developed a new class of aerogel-based thin-film self-powered radiation sensors employing high-energy electron current (HEC) in periodic multilayer (high-Z | polyimide aerogel (PA) | low-Z) electrode microstructures.

Materials: Low-Z (Al) and high-Z (Ta) electrodes were deposited on 50 μm-thick PA films to obtain sensors with Al-PA-Ta-PA-Al structures. Sensors were tested with x rays in the 40-120 kVp range and with 2.