Microchannel Plate Amplifiers by Accelerator Bombardment and Particle Track Etching

这项研究将探索一种制造微通道板的方法，该方法将保持现有技术的增益和效率，同时将空间分辨率和响应时间提高至少十倍。这种新方法是基于加速器轰击和粒子径迹刻蚀的。高能粒子通过一片基本玻璃时，会留下潜在的破坏痕迹。当浸泡在蚀刻溶液中时，沿着损伤痕迹的材料优先蚀刻形成相互生长的圆锥形凹坑。来自相反表面的蚀刻凹坑对合并形成圆柱体，该圆柱体可以由蚀刻条件控制形成微通道。第一阶段将确定在通道中产生的表面是否具有适合于颗粒检测和信号放大的电学、结构和块状材料特性。

This research will investigate a method for fabricating microchannel plates which will preserve the gain and efficiency of existing techniques while improving spatial resolution and response time at least tenfold. This new method is based on accelerator bombardment and particle track etching. Passage of a high energy particle through a sheet of base glass leaves a latent damage trail of broken bonds. When submerged in an etching solution, material along the damage trail etches preferentially to form conical pits which grow toward each other. Pairs of etch pits from opposite surfaces merge to form cylinders which may be shaped into microchannels controlled by etching conditions. Phase I will determine whether the resulting surface in the channel has electrical, structural, and bulk material properties suitable for particle detection and signal amplification.