Microchannel plates for photon detection and imaging in space

A preconditioning scheme for the stabilization of microchannel plate (MCP) Z stacks has been developed. Vacuum baking of MCP Z stacks is shown to have little effect on the gain and pulse height distribution characteristics, but tends to increase the background event rate. The major outgassing components during baking are found to be H₂, N₂, H₂O, and CO₂. The MCP stack resistance is found to decrease as the temperature rises, and the temperature coefficient has been determined. Burn-in of MCP stacks is shown to cause a 3x to 10x decrease in gain and also results in minimization of the background event rate. The major outgassing components during burn-in are found to be H₂, N₂, and CO₂. Stabilization of the MCP stacks has been achieved when 0.06 to 0.08 Coulomb cm^-2 have been extracted from the MCP stack output during burn-in.

High-resolution UV, alpha and neutron imaging with the Timepix CMOS readout

We describe the design and report on the experimental results of a novel thermal and cold neutron imaging detector utilizing neutron sensitive (10B-doped) microchannel plates (MCPs). In this detector, the incoming neutron interaction products produce secondary electrons at the pores adjacent to the absorption point within the MCP glass. This electron signal is then multiplied by a stack of conventional MCPs within those adjacent pores limiting the spread of the signal to less than two pore diameters (currently 6-10 mum pores on 8-12 mum centers). The event position then can be encoded by a number of readout techniques already developed for photon/charged particle counting applications. This paper presents the results of experimental evaluation of neutron sensing MCP detector with Medipix2 readout allowing operation at high counting rate mode (>100 MHz level) at a spatial resolution limited by the 55 mum pixel size of the Medipix2 readout. Other attractive features of MCP neutron detectors are their high detection efficiency (approaching 50% levels) for thermal and cold neutrons and the absence of readout noise.

과학위성 1호의 주탑재체인 원자외선 분광기의 검출기 전자부에 대한 특성을 분석하였다. FIMS (Far-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph)는 교차 지연선 양극을 가진 MCP(micro-channel plate)를 사용하여 입사된 원자외선 광자의 위치를 검출한다. MCP에 입사하는 광자는 MCP을 통해 전자형태로 변환되고 증폭된다. 증폭된 전하운의 중심은 양분되어 연결된 지연선을 통해 양단으로 나가게 되고, 지연선의 양단에서 전하운의 도착시간 차이를 구하여 입사된 광자의 위치를 판독한다. FIMS의 경우 2개의 MCP 검출기를 갖고 있으며, 각각 25mm<TEX>$\times$</TEX>25mm의 유효 크기를 갖고있다. 또 신호처리계는 1채널의 신호처리 회로계를 통해 2개의 검출기에 대한 영상검출이 가능하도록 함으로써 신호처리계의 복잡성을 피하고 아울러 전력과 무게 비용을 줄였다. 이 시스템을 통해 높은 시간 및 공간 분해능(<<TEX>$35{\times}75$</TEX>ps FWHM)을 얻었으며, 6W 이하의 저전력 시스템을 구현하였다. We describe some performance of the detector electronics system for the FIMS (Far-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph) mission. The FIMS mission to map the far ultraviolet sky uses MCP (micro-channel plate) detectors with a crossed delay line anode to record photon arrival events. FIMS has two MCP detectors, each with a ~25mm<TEX>$\times$</TEX>25mm active area. The unconventional anode design allows for the use of a single set of position encoding electronics for both detector fields. The centroid position of the charge cloud, generated by the photon-stimulated MCP, is determined by measuring the arrival times at both ends of the anode following amplification and external delay. The temporal response of the detector electronics system determines the readout's positional resolution for the charge centroid. High temporal resolution (<<TEX>$35{\times}75$</TEX>ps FWHM) and low power consumption (< 6W) were achieved for the FIMS detector electronics system.

The research on key techniques of wide field extreme ultraviolet( EUV) spherical micro-channel plate( MCP) photon-counting imaging detector which will be used in space probe in China have been done.Firstly,the secondary electron yield model of photocathode material was built,and the secondary yield of alkali halide and MCP in soft X-ray and EUV band were calculated using the model. The measurement equipment of MCP's quantum detection efficiency also was set up. The calculated fomula of MCP' s quantum efficiency was introduced,and MCP's quantum efficiency vs. wavelength and incidence angle in soft X-ray and EUV region were measured. secondly,the instrument of solid core spherical MCP fabrication was established,a set ofspherical MCP with 150 mm radius were made using the instrument. The 48 mm induced charge wedge and strip anode in effective diameter was made by the use of traditional UV lithography,and the photon-counting imaging detector was integrated based on the anode and spherical MCP stack in Z configuration. Thirdly,the position readout electronics including analog frent-end and digital processing circuit and the software with image distortion rectification and real-time collection were developed. Finally,the measurement instrument of spherical MCP detector's spatial resolution and image linearity was built,and the specifications of the detector were measured using the instrument,showing that all technical specificaions of the detector satisfy the design requirements.

Microchannel plate based detectors are widely used for photon counting spectroscopy and imaging in astronomical, high energy physics and remote sensing applications^1-15. We present progress in the development of imaging cross strip readout detectors using novel microchannel plates functionalized by atomic layer deposition (ALD). ALD microchannel plates have established formats of 10 cm with 10 μm pore sizes and 20 cm with 20 μm pores. ALD MCPs show with high quantum efficiency (&gt;50% @115 nm) using opaque alkali halide photocathodes and very low background levels (0.05 events cm^-2) have been achieved. Readout systems have also evolved and now cross-strip anodes and encoding electronics enable high spatial resolution (&lt;20 μm) at low gain (10⁶) and over large formats (10 cm) with high dynamic range (&gt;5 MHz). These characteristics are essential for UV instrument concepts currently under study for NASA including the Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR)¹⁶, the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HABEX)¹⁶, and Cosmic Evolution Through UV Spectroscopy (CETUS)¹⁶.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology is used to nanoengineer functional films inside the pores of microchannel plate (MCP) electron multipliers, enabling a novel MCP manufacturing technology that substantially improves performance and opens novel applications. The authors have developed custom tools and recipes for the growth of conformal films, with optimized conductance and secondary electron emission inside very long channels (∼6–20 μm diameter and &amp;gt;600 μm length, with tens of millions of channels per single MCP) by ALD. The unique ability to tune the characteristics of these ALD films enables their optimization to applications where time-resolved single particle imaging can be performed in extreme conditions, such as high counting rates at cryogenic temperatures. Adhesion of the conductive and emissive nanofilms to the 20 μm pore MCP glass substrates and their mechanical stability over a very wide range of temperatures (10–700 K) were confirmed experimentally. Resistance of ALD MCPs was reproducible during multiple cool-down cycles with no film degradation observed. Optimizing resistance of novel MCPs for operation at cryogenic temperature should enable high count rate event detection at temperatures below 20 K.

Output Energy Distribution of a Microchannel Plate

A theoretical and experimental study is report-ed of the gain of microchannel plate (MCP) electron multipliers under conditions of output charge satur-ation. Theoretical calculations, assuming a wall charge saturation mechanism, are used to interpret peak gain and pulse height distribution FWHM data obtained with a number of chevron MCP multipliers. A curved surface MCP intended for use with grazing incidence X-ray optics is described. The effects of an inter-plate voltage are described. Limiting pulse height FWHMs around 30% have been obtained. The properties of straight channel chevrons and single curved channel MCPs are briefly compared.

An improved quadrant anode image sensor with microchannel plates

In any quantum communication system, such as a quantum key distribution (QKD) system, data rates are mainly limited by the system clock rate and the various link losses. While the transmission clock rate is limited by the temporal resolution of the single-photon detectors, losses in a fiber-based quantum communication system can be minimized by operating in the near infrared range (NIR), at 1310 nm or 1550 nm. Commercially available InGaAs-based avalanche photo-diodes (APDs) can be operated as single-photon detectors in this wavelength range [Hadfield, 2009]. Due to the severe after-pulsing, InGaAs APDs are typically used in a gated mode and this can limit their application in high-speed quantum communications systems. Superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) can work in the NIR wavelength range with good performance [Gol’tsman et al. 2001; Hadfield, 2009]. However, SSPDs require cryogenic temperatures, and are not widely available on the commercial market at present. In addition, InGaAs/InP based photomultiplier tubes (PMT) can operate in the NIR range, but its performance is limited by very low detection efficiency (1 % at 1600 nm) and large timing jitter (1.5 ns) [Hamamatsu, 2005]. Microchannel plates (MCP) are micro-capillary electron multipliers coated with an electron-emissive material and multiply photon-excited electrons from a photon cathode [Wiza, 1979]. MCPs usually have faster rise times and lower timing jitter than is achievable with PMTs. InGaAs MCPs can work in the NIR range. These MCPs, but are limited by low detection efficiency (~1 %) [Martin, J. & Hink P. 2003]. On the other hand, silicon based avalanche photo-diodes (Si APDs) are compact, relatively inexpensive, and can be operated at ambient temperatures with high detection efficiency and low noise in the visible or near-visible range. Unfortunately they do not work at wavelengths longer than 1000 nm. For those wavelengths, an up-conversion technique has been developed that uses sum-frequency generation (SFG) in a non-linear optical medium to convert the signal photons to a higher frequency (shorter wavelength) in the visible or near visible range. The up-converted photons can then be detected by a Si APD. Up-conversion detectors use commercially available components and devices, and are a practical solution for many applications in quantum communications. To date, several groups have successfully developed highly efficient up-conversion single-photon detectors in the nearinfrared range using periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguides [Diamanti et al., 2005; Langrock et al., 2005; Thew et al., 2006; Tanzilli et al., 2005; Xu et al., 2007;] and bulk crystals [Vandevender & Kwiat, 2004].

Sealed tube MCP detectors have provided a valuable platform for high spatial resolution photon counting detectors. Specifically, electronic readout microchannel plate (MCP) based sensors have been used as photon counting, imaging, event time tagging detectors for astronomy, time resolved biological imaging, imaging LIDAR, Cherenkov (RICH), scintillation detection, and neutron imaging [1]–[10]. For future applications we have been developing novel atomic layer deposited MCPs, UV optimized photocathodes and high resolution cross strip readouts for sealed tube detectors. The Photonis Planacon is a useful sealed detector format (~50 mm square active area) to employ and demonstrate these novel technologies. The Planacon standard geometry has been used, but the standard anode pad array is replaced with a cross strip anode that demonstrates ~20 µm FWHM spatial resolution for single photon events at electron gains of the order 106. Atomic layer deposited MCPs with 10µm pores have been used in place of conventional MCPs, providing tight pulse amplitude distributions, enhanced gain stability and reduced gamma ray sensitivity. The entrance window (Sapphire or MgF2) permits the high UV sensitivity of bialkali photocathodes (>30% @180nm) to be utilized. Event encoding electronics implemented in surface mount components also provides high resolution imaging at event rates of up to 5 MHz. ASIC versions of the encoding electronics are in the prototype phase and show considerable promise for enhanced performance with lower power and smaller footprints.

Advances in photocathodes (GaN, Diamond, GaAs), microchannel plates (Silicon MCP's), and readouts (Cross strip) are poised to make a significant impact on the capabilities of future space instruments. Alkali halide cathode efficiencies have been improved and GaN photocathodes have achieved >30% DQE in the UV with a bandpass limit of ~400nm. In addition diamond photocathodes have been made with 40% DQE and bandpass up to 200nm, and GaAs photocathodes with ~50% DQE in the visible have been made. This offers the potential for efficient photon counting from 10 - 900nm. Silicon MCP's of 25mm format with ~7μm pores, have been made, achieving gain of nearly 104 for a single Si MCP. The quantum detection efficiency for Si MCP's is the same as glass MCP's, but the background is as low as ~ 0.02 events sec-1 cm-2, the best for any MCP. Flat fields are free of any periodic modulation, and the gain uniformity is good. Silicon MCP's have low stopping power for X, gamma and cosmic rays, are stable at high temperatures (>800°C), and chemically compatible with many photocathodes. The cross delay line and cross strip anodes are based on multi-layer metal and ceramic cross strip patterns. Event positions are encoded by the difference of signal arrival times at the anode contacts (delay line) or by direct sensing of the charge on each strip (cross strip) and determination of the charge cloud centroid for each event. The spatial resolution (<5μm) achieved is sufficient to resolve 7μm microchannel plate pores while using low MCP gain (≈2 x 106). Image linearity is good enough to see distortions in the microchannel plate pore alignment, and the low MCP gain will enhance the overall lifetime of MCP detector systems.

Count rate and dynamic range of an X-ray imaging system with MCP detector

A cold electron source has been developed using a microchannel plate (MCP) electron multiplier. Primary electron emission is initiated by illumination with ultraviolet photons from a diode. Final electron emission currents of up to 10 μA in continuous wave (CW) mode and 10 mA in pulsed mode have been achieved from a MCP with an active diameter of 5.5 mm. Electron emission generated by UV photons with a wavelength of 260 nm has been shown to be about 30 times more efficient than emission generated by photons with a wavelength of 300 nm. Application of this cold electron source in mass spectrometry is discussed.