Systems-Level Characterization of Microchannel Plate Detector Assemblies, using a Pulsed sub-Picosecond Laser

Microchannel plate photomultiplier tubes (MCP-PMTs) are compact imaging detectors, capable of micron-level spatial imaging and timing measurements with resolutions well below 10 picoseconds. The Large Area Picosecond Photodetector Collaboration (LAPPD) is developing techniques for fabricating 8“x8”, thin, planar, glass-body MCP-PMTs at costs comparable to traditional PMTs. Collaboration between the High Energy Physics Division and the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has produced an advanced channel-plate characterization facility for testing the time response of MCPs using a pulsed laser capable of sub-picosecond pulses. The MCPs are tested in stacks of one or two plates with a simple photocathode and coupled to a microstripline anode board. LAPPD-made MCPs have already demonstrated gains larger than 105 and promising time resolving capabilities. These measurements will guide the systems-level optimization of LAPPD detectors and the development of signal processing algorithms. Predictions made by the LAPPD simulations group based on electron emmission properties of the MCP pore surface are compared with these tests to help further our understanding of MCP performance.