Performance studies of atomic layer deposited microchannel plate electron multipliers

Abstract Microchannel plate (MCP) photon counting, event timing, imaging detectors have found wide use in astronomical, remote sensing, and biological imaging applications. Novel MCP technology using borosilicate glass microcapillary array substrates functionalized by the application of resistive and secondary emissive layers using atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques has the potential to outperform traditional MCP technology. Using ALD techniques to functionalize the MCPs allow customization of parameters like gain and resistance independently from the glass substrate. Borosilicate substrates have many advantages over traditional micro-capillary arrays, including low radioactive content, higher open area ratios, low outgassing, and high operational stability. These ALD MCPs can be manufactured in large areas (400 cm 2 ) providing a unique solution for many timing/imaging applications. ALD MCPs can withstand the processing temperatures required for high temperature deposition of III–V materials, such as Gallium Nitride, for UV photocathodes with high quantum efficiencies (QE) in the Near-UV ( ∼ 100 – 380 nm). We present the effects of different ALD configurations on the gain (magnitude and uniformity), resistance, imaging, background and detection efficiency, and how these parameters change during lifetime testing. We also present the QE of ALD MCPs and various QE enhancement techniques.