Extended lifetime MCP-PMTs: Characterisation and lifetime measurements of ALD coated microchannel plates, in a sealed photomultiplier tube

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) coating of microchannel plates (MCP) has been shown to offer significant performance advantages in MCP-PMTs (MCP Photomultiplier Tube). ALD is a chemical vapour process used to deposit atomic mono-layers on a substrate. A process has been developed to deposit a surface with improved secondary emission yield (SEY) on to an MCP substrate. The principal advantage of a higher SEY is the ability to achieve significantly higher gain at the same operating voltage across a single MCP. Further to this, it is suspected the atomic mono-layers deposited by ALD coating prevent desorption of gaseous contaminants in the MCP glass. The ions produced during desorption are widely believed to be a direct cause of photocathode ageing in MCP-PMTs, leading to the hope that ALD coating can improve the MCP-PMT lifetime. To fully characterise the performance of ALD coated MCPs, two MCP-PMTs were manufactured, one ALD coated and the other uncoated to be used as a reference. Each detector's gain, DQE, pulse shape and timing jitter were measured followed by a life test of the tubes. The ALD coated tube was found to have a higher gain at the same operating voltage, whilst being equivalent to a standard MCP in other performance characteristics. ALD coating gave a dramatically improved life time, after 5.16 C cm−2 total charge extracted, there was no measurable effect on the photocathode QE, although the MCP gain dropped by approximately 35%.