You may have heard of a new breed of SDD that has an ultra-thin Silicon-Nitride (Si3N4) window. Its main advantage over traditional polymer windows is its significantly higher low-energy sensitivity. In addition, it is both moisture and plasma-cleaning tolerant which permits the true vacuum sensor environment to persist for the lifetime of the detector.
If you have concerns about the robustness of this new window, watch this video, which shows some informal torture tests being performed. You will come away astounded at the results.
Click here for more information on EDAX detectors using a silicon nitride window:
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