High Speed Optical Imaging Photon Counting Microchannel Plate Detectors for Astronomical and Space Sensing Applications

摘要

Cross delay line an d cross strip h igh resolution position encoding readouts have the capability o f being able to independently record the accurate time of each detected photon event without compromising the imaging performance. This is im portant for tim e dependent UV-Visible applications in ground based and space astronomy, biology, nighttime reconnaissance and time of flight instruments. We have developed sealed tube microchannel plate cross strip (18 mm) and cross delay line (25 mm) anode detectors with visible light photocathodes. These have high spatial resolution, are cap able of h igh counting rates and provide extended lifetimes. High-speed electronics for the cross strip readout have been developed and accommodate > 5 M Hz random photon rates, and we have dem onstrated tim e tagging of events with 1ns accuracy. Spatial resolutions of < 30 with excellent image linearity have been achieved in tests of an 18 mm cross strip anode sealed tube detector. The 25 mm cross delay line sealed tube has been commissioned on the South African Large Telescope 10m telescope and performed a variety of high time resolution observations of transient and time-variable astronomical sources.