Absolute efficiency of a two-stage microchannel plate for electrons in the 30 - 900 eV energy range

We report on an apparatus able to measure the absolute detection efficiency of a detector for electrons in the 30 - 900 eV range. In particular, we discuss the characterisation of a two-stage chevron microchannel plate (MCP). The measurements have been performed in the LASEC laboratory at Roma Tre University, whit a custom-made electron gun. The very good stability of the beam current in the fA range, together with the picoammeter nominal resolution of 0.01 fA, allowed the measurement of the MCP absolute efficiency ε. We found an ε = (0.489±0.003) with no evident energy dependence. We fully characterised the MCP pulse shape distribution, which is quasi-Gaussian with a well visible peak above the noise level. We measured a 68% variation of the average pulse height between 30 and 500 eV. Furthermore, with a deeper analysis of the pulse shape, and in particular of the correlation between pulse height, area and width, we found a method to discriminate single- and multi- electron events occurring within a 10 ns time window.

Correction to: The Design of the AZO Conductive Layer on Microchannel Plate

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

The Design of the AZO Conductive Layer on Microchannel Plate

When the resistivity of the AZO conductive layer is within the MCP resistance requirement, the interval of the Zn content is very narrow (70–73%) and difficult to control. Aiming at the characteristics of the AZO conductive layer on the microchannel plate, an algorithm is designed to adjust the ratio of the conductive material ZnO and the high resistance material Al2O3. We put forward the concept of the working resistance of the MCP (i.e., the resistance during the electron avalanche in the microchannel). The working resistance of AZO-ALD-MCP (Al2O3/ZnO atomic layer deposition microchannel plate) was measured for the first time by the MCP resistance test system. In comparison with the conventional MCP, we found that the resistance of AZO-ALD-MCP in working state and non-working state is very different, and as the voltage increases, the working resistance significantly decreases. Therefore, we proposed a set of analytical methods for the conductive layer. We also proposed to adjust the ratio of the conductive material of the ALD-MCP conductive layer to the high-resistance material under the working resistance condition, and successfully prepared high-gain AZO-ALD-MCP. This design opens the way for finding better materials for the conductive layer of ALD-MCP to improve the performance of MCP.