Timing characteristics of Large Area Picosecond Photodetectors

The LAPPD Collaboration was formed to develop ultrafast large-area imaging photodetectors based on new methods for fabricating microchannel plates (MCPs). In this paper we characterize the time response using a pulsed, sub-picosecond laser. We observe single-photoelectron time resolutions of a 20 cm × 20 cm MCP consistently below 70 ps, spatial resolutions of roughly 500 μm, and median gains higher than 107. The RMS measured at one particular point on an LAPPD detector is 58 ps, with ± 1σ of 47 ps. The differential time resolution between the signal reaching the two ends of the delay line anode is measured to be 5.1 ps for large signals, with an asymptotic limit falling below 2 ps as noise-over-signal approaches zero.