Nano-engineered ultra-high-gain microchannel plates

Highly localized and very fast electron amplification of microchannel plates (MCPs) enables a large number of high-resolution and high-sensitivity detection technologies, which provide spatial and/or temporal information for each detected photon/electron/ion/neutron. Although there has been significant progress in photocathode and readout technologies the MCPs themselves have not evolved much from the technology developed several decades ago. Substantial increases in the gain of existing MCP technology have been accomplished by utilizing state-of-the-art processes developed for nano-engineered structures. The gain of treated MCPs with aspect ratio of 40:1 is reproducibly measured to reach unprecedented values of 2x105. This gain enhancement is shown to be stable during MCP operation. In addition, the initial experiments indicate improved stability of gain as a function of extracted charge and MCP storage conditions. We also present results from a fully independent thin-film process for manufacturing non-lead glass MCPs using engineered thin films for both the resistive and emissive layers. These substrate-independent MCPs show high gain, less gain degradation with extracted charge, and greater pore-to-pore and plate-to-plate uniformity than has been possible with conventional lead glass structures.