Transforming Microchannel Plate Photodetectors for Future UV Instruments through Nano-Scale Additive Manufacturing

For more than 50 years, microchannel plate (MCP) photodetectors have been in use aboard space borne ultraviolet instruments and these missions have made major contributions to our understanding of many types of astronomical objects. The next generation of UV missions have outlined very ambitious scientific goals and will require significant improvements to instrument performance if they are going to be achieved. Through the concept studies initiated by the 2010 Astrophysics Decadal Survey, the Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR) and the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx), many of the critical technologies required to perform the compelling science outlined in the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey have been identified. Both missions have included multi-object spectrographs with very large focal planes requiring large radiation hard UV photodetectors (>100 × 100 mm2) with <20 µm resolution elements, high quantum efficiency, and very low in-situ detector background rates. Furthermore, advancements in UV detectors for future CubeSats and probe and explorer class missions are equally crucial in generating scientifically compelling data. These needs have led the recently released Cosmic Origins Program Annual Technology Report to list large format, high dynamic range UV detectors as a Priority 1 technology requirement. We propose to address these needs by leveraging recent advances in additive manufacturing (AM) techniques and atomic layer deposition (ALD) to demonstrate the production of MCP based photodetectors by functionalizing 3D printed capillary arrays with resistive and high secondary electron yield coatings. There currently exists two distinct manufacturing techniques for producing MCPs, lead glass substrates functionalized in a reducing atmosphere and borosilicate glass substrates functionalized by ALD, both of which have unique limitations (e.g., pore size uniformity and long-term gain stability). By harnessing the latest high-resolution 3D printers using ceramic or glass photo resins, robust substrates can be produced with extremely high uniformity, large open area ratios, and exotic pore geometries, potentially making dramatic improvements to the current state-of-the-art MCP detector performance. Microcapillary arrays made by AM potentially have many advantages over traditional fused glass substrates, including better material control (e.g., printed glasses and ceramics with bulk resistivity), better control of microscopic features (e.g., unique pore geometries to improve performance), and better control of macroscopic features (e.g., printing precision curved surfaces for focal plane matching). AM-MCPs could be tailored to each application and significantly improve detector performance, enabling the next generation of instruments to achieve their ambitious scientific goals. Specific issues to be addressed in this investigation include an analysis of the design, materials, and techniques needed to produce capillary arrays by 3D printing for use as ALD coated MCPs. The resulting substrates will be evaluated for structural, chemical, and thermal stability. Resistive and emissive coatings like those used on standard ALD MCPs will be used to baseline the technology. Parallel to this, modified processing steps that can be used to control the bulk resistivity of the substrate, eliminating the need for a resistive coating, will be evaluated. Fabricated MCPs will be inspected for defects, and then a set of basic performance tests will be done, including, resistance vs. voltage measurement, gain vs. voltage, and imaging tests in a basic cross delay line or phosphor screen imaging detector. Imaging performance will be evaluated to determine flat field response, gain uniformity, pulse height distribution, and background.

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