Sanderson, Benjamin; (2002) Development of microchannel plate detectors for spatially linear high resolution imaging with the Vernier anode. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D.), University College London (United Kingdom).

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Abstract

Charge division readouts provide a relatively simple means to accurately determine the spatial co-ordinates of events detected in a microchannel plate (MCP) detector. Although offering many advantages such as electronic simplicity and ease of manufacture, they can exhibit certain image stability and linearity problems largely associated with charge collection by the anode. Described here are experiments which were conducted to investigate, quantify and remove image non-linearities produced by a microchannel plate photon counting detector utilising a Vernier charge division anode. Experiments were also conducted to optimise the image resolution provided by the Vernier anode, so that its performance was comparable to that predicted from electronic and partition noise considerations. The distortion present in images acquired with the Vernier anode is analysed, and the underlying physical processes responsible for the image distortion are discussed. The optimised detector that was utilised in the Joint Astrophysical Plasmadynamic Experiment (J-PEX) sounding rocket mission is detailed, demonstrating the high resolution and low image non-linearities achievable with the ideal detector configuration. The characteristics of the charge footprint have a significant effect on the performance of a charge division anode. Measurements of the charge footprint distribution are presented, with discussion of its influence on image linearity and resolution for several detector configurations. Comparisons are made between charge footprint distributions for detectors with and without secondary electron control grids and for an innovative solution utilising charge induced through the readout substrate. The advantages of imaging using the induced charge technique with a delay line readout, a wedge and strip readout and a Vernier readout are discussed, and initial results from a Vernier readout are presented. The steps required to optimise this technique for the Vernier readout are discussed, and results demonstrate that this technique can produce spatially linear images and has the potential to realise the exceptional resolution predicted of the Vernier anode.

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