Ken Moy

Monte Carlo simulations of high-speed, time-gated microchannel-plate-based x-ray detectors: saturation effects in dc and pulsed modes and detector dynamic range.

We present here results of continued efforts to understand the performance of microchannel plate (MCP)-based, high-speed, gated, x-ray detectors. This work involves the continued improvement of a Monte Carlo simulation code to describe MCP performance coupled with experimental efforts to better characterize such detectors. Our goal is a quantitative description of MCP saturation behavior in both static and pulsed modes. A new model of charge buildup on the walls of the MCP channels is briefly described. The simulation results are compared to experimental data obtained with a short-pulse, high-intensity ultraviolet laser, and good agreement is found. These results indicate that a weak saturation can change the exponent of gain with voltage and that a strong saturation leads to a gain plateau. These results also demonstrate that the dynamic range of a MCP in pulsed mode has a value of between 10(2) and 10(3).

Characterizations of MCP performance in the hard x-ray range (6–25 keV)

MCP detector performance at hard x-ray energies from 6 to 25 keV was recently investigated using NSLS beamline X15A at BNL. Measurements were made with an NSTec Gen-II (H-CA-65) framing camera, based on a Photonis MCP with ∼10 μm in diameter pores, ∼12 μm center-center spacing, an L/D ratio of 46, and a bias angle of 8°. The MCP characterizations were focused on (1) energy and angle dependent sensitivity, (2) energy and angle dependent spatial resolution, (3) energy dependent gain performance, and (4) energy dependent dynamic range. These measurement corroborated simulation results using a Monte Carlo model that included hard x-ray interactions and the subsequent electron cascade in the MCP.

Dynamic Characterizations of an 8-frame Half-Strip High-speed X-ray Microchannel Plate Imager

High-speed microchannel plate (MCP)-based imagers are critical detectors for x-ray diagnostics employed on Z-experiments at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to measure time-resolved x-ray spectra and to image dynamic hohlraums. A multiframe design using eight half strips in one imager permits recordings of radiation events in discrete temporal snapshots to yield a time-evolved movie. We present data using various facilities to characterize the performance of this design. These characterization studies include DC and pulsed-voltage biased measurements in both saturated and linear operational regimes using an intense, short-pulsed UV laser. Electrical probe measurements taken to characterize the shape of the HV pulse propagating across the strips help to corroborate the spatial gain dependence