INCOM, INC. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 31a

Description

Recently developed Large Area Picosecond Photo-Detectors (LAPPD) are the largest commercially available planar geometry photodetectors based on Microchannel-Plate. LAPPDs combine features not available in any other commercially available Micro-Channel Plate Photomultiplier Tubes (MCP-PMT), including a large active area of up to 400 cm2, ~50 ps temporal resolution, few mm spatial resolution, and advanced microchannel plates (MCPs) offering very high gain, low noise and other benefits. A prime target application for LAPPDs is to detect Cherenkov radiation, with a maximum emission in the ultraviolet spectral range shorter than 300 nm. Developing of new “baseline” LAPPDs featuring photocathodes with inherently high sensitivity (QE approaching 30%) in the spectral range between 200 nm and 300 nm is a prime objective of this Phase II. Higher sensitivity allows the photon counting with exceptional reliability enabling new techniques in HEP, homeland security, scientific detectors for astrophysics, electron microscopy, time-of-flight mass spectrometry, etc. that are not possible with conventional small area MCP-PMTs. This Phase II Funding Opportunity continues R&D started under Phase I (award #DE-SC0019821) to develop UV-enhanced LAPPDs exhibiting high photon sensitivity in a spectral range from 200 nm to 300 nm. In Phase I we successfully developed an advanced photocathode deposition process allowing to achieve QE approaching 30% in the desired spectral range and demonstrated feasibility of production of UV-enhanced LAPPDs. In this Phase II we will a) build a dedicated vacuum system for developing new photocathode materials for the UV spectral range that will allow to further boost up the photocathode sensitivity; b) demonstrate pilot production of a new baseline UV-enhanced LAPPD with high sensitivity in a spectral range between 200 nm and 300 nm. Large Area Picosecond Photo-Detectors (LAPPDs) with high QE (and Photon Detection Efficiency) will allow for detecting photons one-by-one with near-perfect reliability. They will enable new techniques in HEP, homeland security (non-proliferation) sensors to screen vehicles and cargo for Special Nuclear Materials (SNMs) and scientific detectors for astrophysics, time-of-flight mass spectrometry and medical imaging products including detectors for positron emission tomography (PET scanning) that are not achievable with conventional small area MCP-PMTs.