Ultrafast gating of proximity focused microchannel-plate intensifiers

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Proc. Soc. Photo-Opt. Instrum. Eng.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5382961

Lundy, A S; Iverson, A E

Proximity-focused, microchannel-plate (MCP) image intensifiers have been used at Los Alamos for many years to allow single frame film and video exposure times in the range of 2.5 to 10 ns. There is now a program to reduce gating times to <1 ns. Previous work and the problems in achieving good resolution with gating times of <1 ns are reviewed. The key problems involve applying fast electrical gating signals to the tube elements. Computer modeling studies of the combined tube, tube connection, and pulser system are presented. It is shown that low photocathode surface resistivity must be obtained to permit fast gating between the photocathode and the MCP input. Ways of making low-resistivity S20 photocathodes, using gallium arsenide photocathodes, and various means of gating the tubes are discussed. A variety of pulser designs are being experimentally evaluated including spark gaps, avalanche transistors, Krytron tubes with sharpening gaps, step recovery diodes, and photoconductive elements (PCEs). The results of these studies are presented. Because of the high capacitances involved in most gating schemes, the tube connection geometry must be of low-impedance design, and our solution is presented. Finally, ways of testing these high-speed camera systems are discussed.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM
• OSTI ID: 5382961
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Proc. Soc. Photo-Opt. Instrum. Eng.; (United States) Journal Volume: 348
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420200* -- Engineering-- Facilities
Equipment
&amp; Techniques
CAMERAS
CATHODES
ELECTRODES
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
FOCUSING
GATING CIRCUITS
IMAGE INTENSIFIERS
IMAGE TUBES
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PHOTOCATHODES
PHOTOGRAPHY
TESTING
ULTRAHIGH-SPEED PHOTOGRAPHY