High Gain Micro-Channel Plate Multipliers for Particle Tracking or Single Photo-Electron Counting

Micro-channel plate multipliers have been used to detect the passage of relativistic charged particles. Measurements of the detection efficiency and pulse height response versus micro-channel plate gain are presented for one, two and three micro-channel plate arrays. Values describing temporal response and transit time jitter are also given. In a separate measurement, the response of a single micro-channel plate to individual slow electrons (< 1 keV) was studied. By using a special technique output bunches as small as three electrons may be seen for low average micro-channel plate gain. The results of attempts to improve the micro-channel plate response are also presented.