Developments in large-area flat panel photodetectors with ALD glass capillary array microchannel plates

Incom, Inc. is now producing commercially available Large Area Picosecond Photo-Detectors (LAPPD™) usable in applications by early adopters. The first generation LAPPD™ is an all-glass 230 x 220 x 22 mm3 flat panel photodetector with a chevron stack of glass capillary array microchannel plates functionalized by atomic layer deposition, a semitransparent bi-alkali photocathode, and a strip-line anode. The photodetector is being optimized for applications requiring picosecond timing and millimeter spatial resolution and has achieved single photoelectron (PE) timing resolutions of α≤52 ps. Typical performance metrics include electron gains of 107 at 1 kV per MCP, low dark noise rates (15-30 Hz/cm2 at moderate gains), single PE spatial response along and across strips of 1.8 mm and 0.76 mm respectively and quantum efficiencies that are typically ≥20% at 365 nm. Changes to the “baseline” LAPPD™ are under development to optimize the photodetector for applications requiring very high spatial resolutions.