Improved microchannel plate performance with a resistive anode encoder

Performance of microchannel plates in the high‐gain chevron configuration has been improved by the addition of an interplate voltage VB. For VB=100 V, and positive ion excitation, the output electron distribution FWHM decreased from 166% to 97%. Using a resistive anode encoder (RAE) readout, and 1216‐A uv excitation, we observed a corresponding spatial resolution improvement of 16%.