Image Shutters: Gated Proximity-Focused Microchannel-Plate (MCP) Wafer Tubes Versus Gated Silicon Intensified Target (SIT) Vidicons

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Abstract
The imaging characteristics of two fast image shutters used for recording the spatial and temporal evolution of transient optical events in the nanosecond range have been studied. Emphasis is on the comparative performances of each shutter type under similar conditions. Response data, including gating speed, gain, dynamic range, shuttering efficiency, and resolution for 18 and 25-mm-diam proximity-focused microchannel-plate (MCP) intensifiers are com-pared with similar data for a prototype electrostatically-focused 25-mm-diam gated silicon-intensified-target (SIT) vidicon currently under development for Los Alamos National Laboratory. Several key parameters critical to optical gating speed have been varied in both tube types in order to determine the optimum performance attainable from each design. These include conductive substrate material and thickness used to reduce photocathode resistivity, spacing between gating electrodes to minimize interelectrode capacitance, the use of con-ductive grids on the photocathode substrate to permit rapid propagation of the electrical gate pulse to all areas of the photocathode, and different package geometries to provide a more effective interface with external biasing and gating circuitry. For comparable spatial resolution, most 18-mm-diam MCPs require gate times > 2.5 ns while the fastest SIT has demonstrated sub-nanosecond optical gates as short as r, 400 ± 50 ps for full shuttering of the 25-mm-diam input window.

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