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Microchannel plate detector
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Microchannel plate detector
A microchannel plate (MCP) is used to detect single particles (electrons, ions and neutrons) and photons (ultraviolet radiation and X-rays). It is closely related to an electron multiplier, as both intensify single particles or photons by the multiplication of electrons via secondary emission. Because a microchannel plate detector has many separate channels, it can provide spatial resolution.
A microchannel plate is a slab made from resistive material (most often glass) 0.5 to 2mm thick with a regular array of tiny tubes (microchannels) leading from one face to the other. The microchannels are typically 5-20 micrometers in diameter, parallel to each other and enter the plate at a small angle to the surface (8-13° from normal). Plates are often round disks, but can be cut to any shape from sizes 10mm up to 200mm. They may also be curved.
At non-relativistic energies, single particles generally produce effects too small to enable their direct detection. The microchannel plate functions as a particle amplifier, turning a single impinging particle into a cloud of electrons. By applying a strong electric field across the MCP, each individual microchannel becomes a continuous-dynode electron multiplier.
A particle or photon that enters one of the channels through a small orifice is guaranteed to hit the wall of the channel, due to the channel being at an angle to the plate. The impact starts a cascade of electrons that propagates through the channel, amplifying the original signal by several orders of magnitude, depending on the electric field strength and the geometry of the microchannel plate. After the cascade, the microchannel takes time to recover (or recharge) before it can detect another signal.
The electrons exit the channels on the opposite side of the plate, where they are collected on an anode. Some anodes are designed to allow spatially resolved ion collection, producing an image of the particles or photons incident on the plate.
Although in many cases the collecting anode functions as the detecting element, the MCP itself can also be used as a detector. The discharging and recharging of the plate produced by the electron cascade, can be decoupled from the high voltage applied to the plate and measured, to directly produce a signal corresponding to a single particle or photon.
The gain of an MCP is very noisy, meaning that two identical particles detected in succession will often produce wildly different signal magnitudes. The temporal jitter resulting from the peak height variation can be removed by using a constant fraction discriminator. Thusly employed, MCPs are capable of measuring particle arrival times with high resolution, making them ideal detectors for mass spectrometers.
Most modern MCP detectors consist of two microchannel plates with angled channels, rotated 180° from each other - producing a shallow chevron (v-like) shape. In a chevron MCP, the electrons that exit the first plate start the cascade in the next plate. The angle between the channels reduces ion feedback in the device, as well as producing significantly more gain at a given voltage, compared to a straight channel MCP. The two MCPs can either be pressed together to preserve spatial resolution, or have a small gap between them to spread the charge across multiple channels, which further increases the gain.
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Microchannel plate detector
A microchannel plate (MCP) is used to detect single particles (electrons, ions and neutrons) and photons (ultraviolet radiation and X-rays). It is closely related to an electron multiplier, as both intensify single particles or photons by the multiplication of electrons via secondary emission. Because a microchannel plate detector has many separate channels, it can provide spatial resolution.
A microchannel plate is a slab made from resistive material (most often glass) 0.5 to 2mm thick with a regular array of tiny tubes (microchannels) leading from one face to the other. The microchannels are typically 5-20 micrometers in diameter, parallel to each other and enter the plate at a small angle to the surface (8-13° from normal). Plates are often round disks, but can be cut to any shape from sizes 10mm up to 200mm. They may also be curved.
At non-relativistic energies, single particles generally produce effects too small to enable their direct detection. The microchannel plate functions as a particle amplifier, turning a single impinging particle into a cloud of electrons. By applying a strong electric field across the MCP, each individual microchannel becomes a continuous-dynode electron multiplier.
A particle or photon that enters one of the channels through a small orifice is guaranteed to hit the wall of the channel, due to the channel being at an angle to the plate. The impact starts a cascade of electrons that propagates through the channel, amplifying the original signal by several orders of magnitude, depending on the electric field strength and the geometry of the microchannel plate. After the cascade, the microchannel takes time to recover (or recharge) before it can detect another signal.
The electrons exit the channels on the opposite side of the plate, where they are collected on an anode. Some anodes are designed to allow spatially resolved ion collection, producing an image of the particles or photons incident on the plate.
Although in many cases the collecting anode functions as the detecting element, the MCP itself can also be used as a detector. The discharging and recharging of the plate produced by the electron cascade, can be decoupled from the high voltage applied to the plate and measured, to directly produce a signal corresponding to a single particle or photon.
The gain of an MCP is very noisy, meaning that two identical particles detected in succession will often produce wildly different signal magnitudes. The temporal jitter resulting from the peak height variation can be removed by using a constant fraction discriminator. Thusly employed, MCPs are capable of measuring particle arrival times with high resolution, making them ideal detectors for mass spectrometers.
Most modern MCP detectors consist of two microchannel plates with angled channels, rotated 180° from each other - producing a shallow chevron (v-like) shape. In a chevron MCP, the electrons that exit the first plate start the cascade in the next plate. The angle between the channels reduces ion feedback in the device, as well as producing significantly more gain at a given voltage, compared to a straight channel MCP. The two MCPs can either be pressed together to preserve spatial resolution, or have a small gap between them to spread the charge across multiple channels, which further increases the gain.
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