The multi-anode microchannel array detector system: Current status and future prospects

摘要

the multi-anode microchannel arrays (MAMAs) are a family of photoelectric pulse-counting array detectors that are being developed specifically for use in space. MAMA detectors with formats as large as 256 x 1024 pixels are currently under evaluation in the laboratory, and a (24 x 1024)-pixel extreme-ultraviolet MAMA detector was recently flown successfully on a sounding rocket. A (256 x 1024)-pixel ultraviolet MAMA detector system is now being prepared for flight on the balloon-borne ultraviolet stellar spectrograph (BUSS). The performance characteristics of this detector system are briefly described and the implications for the design of the detectors for the FUSE (now Columbus) mission are discussed.