What is the time response of MCPs and channeltrons?
A.- A very important performance parameter for electron multipliers is the temporal or time response of the detector. The detection time is essentially proportional to the aspect ratio – the thickness of the Microchannel Plate (MCP). Since these devices have very short path lengths, they tend to have very short response times. And the high internal electric field within the channel guarantees that the electron multiplication process happens very quickly. Typical results from this type of a design are that the transit time of the pulse within a channel is very short, typically one nanosecond. Pulse spreading is minimised, resulting in narrow pulse widths of about one nanosecond. Microchannel plates are used in a number of very time-dependent applications. Figure 3 shows some typical results of a small pore microchannel plate and the resultant temporal response after having stimulated the detector with a single ion event. The amount of propagation time (amplification time) can then be me
