title: Applicability of micro-channel plate followed by phosphor screen to charged particles.
abstract: This paper experimentally investigates the applicability of a micro-channel plate (MCP) followed by a phosphor screen to charged particles along with a calibration method for estimating the acceptable limit of input particle flux and appropriate operation parameters of a particular MCP. For the first time, plasmas consisting of only lithium ions are injected into the MCP. Despite large ion numbers (Ni) on the order of ≃10(7), no deterioration in the effective gain (αG) of the MCP owing to an excess amount of the extracted charge occurs in a certain range of the amplifier voltage (ΔUM) applied to the MCP. The measured αG nearly agrees with the expected value. However, once ΔUM exceeds a limit value, αG eventually begins to saturate. This is also verified in experiments using pure electron plasmas. An appropriate range of ΔUM is presented to avoid saturation and, finally, derive Ni directly from the secondary electron current outputted from the MCP only after the indispensable calibration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Goshokaidocho, Matsugasaki, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Himura
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Goshokaidocho, Matsugasaki, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Goshokaidocho, Matsugasaki, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanpei