Development of Sealed Cross Strip Readout UV Detectors

We present progress in the development of sealed tube imaging detectors using the cross strip (XS) readout and microchannel plates activated by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Microchannel plate detectors are important tools for photon counting spectroscopy and imaging in astronomical, biological, high energy physics and remote sensing applications(1-9). Current UV instrument concepts under study for NASA including the Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR)(10), the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HABEX)(11), and Cosmic Evolution Through UV Spectroscopy (CETUS)(12) have also envisaged MCP detector systems. Many of these address sensing beyond 105 nm, and require large area high resolution sealed tube devices for ease of integration and handling. To satisfy these we are implementing high temperature co-fired ceramic (HTCC) cross-strip anode readouts in sealed tubes coupled with encoding electronics that enable high spatial resolution (<20 mu m) at low gain (10(6)) and over large formats (5 to 10 cm) with high dynamic range (> 5 MHz). ALD microchannel plates have also been incorporated to deliver stable gain and imaging performance with low background (<0.05 events cm(-2)sec(-1)) and reduced sensitivity to gamma ray background.