INCOM, INC. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 35b

Description

This program will build on the work of the Large-Area Psec Photo-Detector (LAPPD) program, under which a transformative design for low-cost large-area photodetectors that use 8 square micro-channel plates (MCPs) is being developed. The technology will be extended by reducing the pore size of these large-area MCPs from 20 m to 10 m for commercial and scientific applications requiring improved space and time resolution. MCPs developed in this program will also have improved emissive layer coatings for enhanced gain, and will be made with glasses that offer improved thermal and electrical characteristics, greater durability, and lower dark current. Incom will work closely with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), the University of Chicago (UC) and the University of California Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory (UCB/SSL) to advance the MCP technology. Novel methods will be developed for the fabrication of the 10 m pore glass microcapillary arrays that provide the structure for the MCPs, and capabilities for fabricating the arrays from alternate glasses will also be developed. The atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes that functionalize the arrays and turn them into MCPs will be advanced. The extensive and unique testing capabilities at ANL, UC, and UCB/SSL will be used to characterize the MCPs and guide development efforts. The large-area high resolution MCPs will enable construction of photodetectors that are far larger and lower in cost than those now commercially available, offering new options for their use in detector applications. This will benefit high energy physics applications such as particle detectors and will also have wide benefits in commercial applications such as detectors for mass spectrometers, positron emission tomography or PET scanners, and homeland security cargo/vehicle scanners.