Patent ID: 8462913

Claim:
Radiation detecting apparatus comprising a collimator and a detector; the detector comprising a sensing element; the collimator comprising: a central blocking region comprising a material for blocking radiation; and a surrounding transmission region for allowing transmission of said radiation, the surrounding transmission region being a sector of an annulus or a plurality of areas in a configuration in the shape of a sector of an annulus; the radiation detecting apparatus being configured such that a radiation source is positionable on a side of the collimator opposite the detector and aligned with a center of the central blocking region and the sensing element such that when a sample comprising a crystal material is at a detecting position and the sensing element is at a particular distance from the collimator, the radiation from the aligned radiation source is collimated by the collimator and contacts the sample at a plurality of different locations via the transmission region, and wherein the radiation is blocked from contacting the sample in line with the central region, and Bragg diffracted radiation from the crystal material at two or more of the plurality of locations overlaps at the detector while any primary radiation is collimated away from the sensing element.