Microchannel plates: recent advances in performance

Microchannel plates have, because of their adaptability to various size and configuration formats, allowed a wide range of devices to be realized in astronomical applications for X-ray, UV and visible sensing, employing many different forms of readout techniques and photocathode types. Two essential performance issues are the quantum detection efficiency, and the uniformity of response over the detector field of view. In both of these areas microchannel plates have had issues, both in the consistency of high quantum detection efficiency, and in fixed pattern noise introduced by fabrication processes for microchannel plates. We show that recent work has improved the consistency of obtaining high quantum detection efficiency, and has virtually eliminated the causes of fixed pattern noise due to fabrication issues.