THE 2 MICRON PORE MICROCHANNEL PLATE Development of the world’s fastest detector
Citation
Laprade, Bruce and Starcher, Ron. "THE 2 MICRON PORE MICROCHANNEL PLATE: Development of the world’s fastest detector." BURLE Electro-Optics, Inc., 03 Apr. 2001.
Keywords
- Microchannel Plate (MCP)
- Pore Size
- Temporal Resolution
- Spatial Resolution
- Dynamic Range
- Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (TOF-MS)
- Image Intensification
- BURLE Electro-Optics
- Fabrication
- Gain
Brief
A new 2-micron pore microchannel plate that significantly improves upon previous models with enhanced spatial and temporal resolution, as well as dynamic range.
Summary
This technical report, "THE 2 MICRON PORE MICROCHANNEL PLATE: Development of the world’s fastest detector," discusses the development of a new type of microchannel plate (MCP) by BURLE Electro-Optics. The report highlights the significance of smaller pore sizes in MCPs, primarily focusing on a 2-micron pore size compared to the existing 5-micron standard.
Here are the key takeaways:
- Smaller pores in MCPs lead to enhanced temporal response, spatial resolution, and dynamic range. These improvements are crucial in applications like high-energy physics and Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (TOF-MS), where precise detection of minute materials is essential.
- The report outlines the fabrication process of MCPs, emphasizing the challenges in creating ultra-small pore structures. These challenges include maintaining a contaminant-free environment, handling fragile multi-fibers, preventing etching through thin walls, and managing the overall thinness of the MCP.
- BURLE Electro-Optics successfully produced working 2-micron pore MCPs with performance characteristics meeting the design goals. The report presents data on gain, gain uniformity, noise, bias current, spatial resolution, and temporal resolution, demonstrating the superior performance of the new MCPs.
- The 2-micron pore MCPs hold the potential to revolutionize various fields. For instance, in night vision technology, these MCPs can significantly enhance image resolution. In TOF-MS, they enable higher mass resolution or the miniaturization of instruments.