Search results for "microchannel plate"
showing 7 items of 27 documents
Secondary electron flight times and tracks in the carbon foil time pick-up detector
2014
Carbon foil time pick-up detectors used in the time-of-flight measurements of MeV energy ions have been studied in connection to time-of-flight-energy spectrometer used for heavy ion elastic recoil detection analysis. In experimental coincident TOF-E data characteristic halos are observed around light element isobars, and the origin of these halos were studied. The experimental data indicated that these halos originate from single electron events occurring before the electron multiplication in the microchannel plate. By means of electron trajectory simulations, this halo effect is explained to originate from single electron, emitted from the carbon foil, hitting the non-active area of the m…
Light weight, thin plastic foil, X-ray telescopes
2002
We present results from a program to develop an X-ray telescope made from thin plastic shells. Our initial results have been obtained from multi-shell cylindrical lenses that are used in a point-to-point configuration to image the small focal spot of a an X-ray tube on a microchannel plate detector. We describe the steps that led up to the present design and present data from the tests that have been used to identify the properties of the plastic material that make it a suitable X-ray reflector. We discuss two applications of our technology to X-ray missions that are designed to address some of the scientific priorities set forth in NASA's long term plans for high energy astrophysics. One m…
Thin plastic shell x-ray optics: an update
2003
We present new results from a program to develop large area X-ray telescopes that are made from thin plastic shells. We use multi-shell cylindrical lenses in a point-to-point configuration to form full aperture images of the small focal spot in a an X-ray tube on a microchannel plate detector. The image data are analyzed to yield radial profiles and encircled energy curves. The derived parameters can be extrapolated to the case of a telescope that is a conical approximation to Wolter 1 optics. The plastic shells can be coated with suitable mono- or multilayers that allow for a wideband coverage of X-ray energies. Our current program is focused on the development of a large area, hard X-ray …
Baseline design of the filters for the LAD detector on board LOFT
2014
The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT) was one of the M3 missions selected for the phase A study in the ESA's Cosmic Vision program. LOFT is designed to perform high-time-resolution X-ray observations of black holes and neutron stars. The main instrument on the LOFT payload is the Large Area Detector (LAD), a collimated experiment with a nominal effective area of ~10 m 2 @ 8 keV, and a spectral resolution of ~240 eV in the energy band 2-30 keV. These performances are achieved covering a large collecting area with more than 2000 large-area Silicon Drift Detectors (SDDs) each one coupled to a collimator based on lead-glass micro-channel plates. In order to reduce the thermal load onto …
The LOFT mission concept: a status update
2016
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolut…
Performance of the cost-effective Planacon ® MCP-PMTs in strong magnetic fields
2020
We present the behavior of the cost-effective Planacon MCP-PMTs with pore diameter in the presence of axial magnetic fields up to 0.5 T. Having a batch of 62 devices of the same type, two MCP-PMTs were selected and their gain variation measured in different magnetic fields. These two otherwise identical devices satisfied the selection criteria by requiring the lowest (1.15 kV) and one of the highest (1.4 kV) bias voltage values to achieve a given gain. Both MCP-PMTs have a nearly identical tolerance of the strong magnetic field despite the significant difference in the bias voltage. This clarifies the mechanism of the B-field influence on the MCP-PMT gain, emphasizing the importance of the …
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing
2014
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final down-selection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument, LOFT will study the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions of accretion flows close to black holes and neutron stars, and the supra-nuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m 2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 deg collimated field of view) and a WideFi…