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Silicon-micromachined microchannel plates

2000, Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment

Cite this paper

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Steinbeck, John. “Silicon-Micromachined Microchannel Plates.” Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment, 2000.

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Steinbeck, J. (2000). Silicon-micromachined microchannel plates. Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment.

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Steinbeck, John. “Silicon-Micromachined Microchannel Plates.” Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment, 2000.

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Steinbeck J. Silicon-micromachined microchannel plates. Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2000;

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Steinbeck, J. (2000) “Silicon-micromachined microchannel plates,” Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A-accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment.

Abstract

Microchannel plates (MCP) fabricated from standard silicon wafer substrates using a novel silicon micromachining process, together with standard silicon photolithographic process steps, are described. The resulting SiMCP microchannels have dimensions of &0.5 to &25 m, with aspect ratios up to 300, and have the dimensional precision and absence of interstitial defects characteristic of photolithographic processing, compatible with positional matching to silicon electronics readouts. The open channel areal fraction and detection e$ciency may exceed 90% on plates up to 300 mm in diameter. The resulting silicon substrates can be converted entirely to amorphous quartz (qMCP). The strip resistance and secondary emission are developed by controlled depositions of thin "lms, at temperatures up to 12003C, also compatible with high-temperture brazing, and can be essentially hydrogen, water and radionuclide-free. Novel secondary emitters and cesiated photocathodes can be high-temperature deposited or nucleated in the channels or the "rst strike surface. Results on resistivity, secondary emission and gain are presented.

FAQs

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AI

What advantages do silicon microchannel plates offer over glass MCPs?add

The study reveals that silicon MCPs achieve higher dimensional precision and eliminate fabrication defects, unlike glass variants. Additionally, SiMCPs support processing at elevated temperatures up to 1400°C, enhancing performance and longevity.

How do pore sizes and aspect ratios of SiMCPs impact performance?add

The findings indicate that SiMCPs can have adjustable pore sizes between 0.5 and 25 micrometers with aspect ratios exceeding 300:1, leading to significantly improved image resolution. High open pore fractions of over 95% also contribute to enhanced detection efficiency.

What methods were used to achieve electrical isolation in SiMCPs?add

The research demonstrates a two-step isolation strategy using thermal oxidation to create an oxide layer plus a subsequent deposition of a resistive strip layer. This allows effective electrical isolation, maintaining secondary electron gain performance.

What secondary emission performance was observed in the SiMCP materials?add

Secondary emission yields reached up to 4 with optimized Si/SiOv films at incident energies between 300 and 400 eV. Moreover, the study highlights the high gain potential with coatings like crystalline diamond, achieving secondary gains between 60 to 80 at 1-2 keV.

How do SiMCPs facilitate compatibility with cesiated photocathodes?add

The study finds that SiMCPs are fully chemically compatible with cesiated cathodes, allowing for direct deposition on MCP surfaces. This compatibility may confer both performance and cost advantages over traditional lead glass MCPs.

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 442 (2000) 443 } 451 Silicon-micromachined microchannel plates Charles P. Beetz, Robert Boerstler, John Steinbeck, Bryan Lemieux, David R. Winn* NanoSciences Corporation, 83 Prokop Road, Oxford, CT 06478, USA Fairxeld University, Department of Physics, Fairxeld, CT 06430-5195, USA Abstract Microchannel plates (MCP) fabricated from standard silicon wafer substrates using a novel silicon micromachining process, together with standard silicon photolithographic process steps, are described. The resulting SiMCP microchan- nels have dimensions of &0.5 to &25 m, with aspect ratios up to 300, and have the dimensional precision and absence of interstitial defects characteristic of photolithographic processing, compatible with positional matching to silicon electronics readouts. The open channel areal fraction and detection e$ciency may exceed 90% on plates up to 300 mm in diameter. The resulting silicon substrates can be converted entirely to amorphous quartz (qMCP). The strip resistance and secondary emission are developed by controlled depositions of thin "lms, at temperatures up to 12003C, also compatible with high-temperture brazing, and can be essentially hydrogen, water and radionuclide-free. Novel secondary emitters and cesiated photocathodes can be high-temperature deposited or nucleated in the channels or the "rst strike surface. Results on resistivity, secondary emission and gain are presented. 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction: Glass microchannel plates (MCP) su!er from operation and fabrication at relatively low temper- atures (precluding most CVD activation or brazed mountings), evolution of hydrogen ions from the surface (potential photocathode degradation), gain degradation, and short gain-lifetime at high inci- dent electron #uxes [1,2]. Spatial defects due to the "ber-bundling process lower the e!ective spatial resolution and image uniformity and limit the abil- ity to couple the MCP to silicon-device readouts, and pixel sizes are usually larger than &5}6 m * Corresponding author. Tel.: #1-203-254-4000; fax: #1- 203-254-4277. E-mail address: NanoSystem@aol.com (C.P. Beetz), winn@fair1.fair"eld.edu (D.R. Winn) www.nanosciences.com. for commercially viable products. Relatively low pore areal packing fractions ((60}65% open pores) create an upper limit on detection e$ciency, near this areal open fraction. Glass MCP are self-radioactive and non-radiation hard at levels incompatible with some very low light or space applications. Lastly, they are expensive and un- available in very large image formats. We have therefore looked at silicon micromachining to develop a new type of Si- and quartz-MCP materials systems, which can take advantage of the mass production technologies developed by the semi- tool and semiconductor industry. 2. Silicon MCP substrates Silicon microchannel plates (SiMCP) have been fabricated using a photolithographically initiated 0168-9002/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 8 - 9 0 0 2 ( 9 9 ) 0 1 2 7 1 - 1
Fig. 1. Micromachined microchannel matrix for a precision SiMCP, fabricated at NanoSciences Corporation. The square channels are on a 6 m spacing, with a side dimension of 3 m. The top surface has been micromachined to a tapered blade point to enhance the collection e$ciency of incident photo- electrons; approximately 95% of the surface is open. proprietary micromachining process developed at NanoSciences Corporation (NSci). The placement, size and pore uniformity of the silicon MCP sub- strate channels therefore have dimensional pre- cisions greatly exceeding that of glass-"ber-based MCP. Figs. 1}4 show SEM micrographs of four di!erent forms of these substrates, and Fig. 5a}c show optical photographs of the SiMCP. The com- plete elimination of MCP defects (for example, due to misplacement or defomation of the glass "bers in a boule) is achievable, and the microchannel out- puts can be placed with precision with respect to potential lithographically patterned readouts. Pore diameters are fully adjustable between 0.5 and 25 m, with high aspect ratios ("hole length/hole diameter) } up to 300:1 has been achieved with 3 m holes } a possible theoretical limit is '2000:1. Large SiMCP diameters are possible, up to the size of available silicon wafers } limited with presently commercially viable silicon wafers to &30 cm (12) diameter SiMCP plates. At present, SiMCP of 10 cm diameter have been pro- duced at NSci, limited only by the installed photoli- thographic equipment (4wafer fab). The holes can be square, and '90% open area; micromachining can taper the hole entrances as shown in Fig. 1. These SiMCP substrates can be vacuum-baked at temperatures &12003C, and brazed at similar elevated temperatures, much hotter than those pos- sible with glass MCP, or converted entirely or partially to oxide (amorphous quartz } qMCP) for even higher-temperature processing. Chevroning up to 83 to the surface plane have been demon- strated, as shown in Fig. 4. 3. Electrical isolation, strip resistance, and secondary emission coatings Because of these temperature characteristics and the silicon-based substrate, CVD processes can be used to activate the SiMCP or qMCP plates with anhydrous, high-temperature secondary-emission materials or with photocathodes. Since silicon is semiconducting and has a relatively small band gap &1.07 eV, it is not possible to develop high enough electric "elds in the channels for generating electron gain. Even for intrinsic silicon 444 C.P. Beetz et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 442 (2000) 443 } 451
Fig. 2. Left. Edge view of the cross-section of a dense array of 6 m channels with the micromachining process halted 368 m into a 520 m thick silicon wafer, the channels are spaced on 8 m centers; Right: top view of the wafer showing the 6 m wide channel openings. Fig. 3. Cross-section views of a section of an extremely thin-wall silicon SiMCP substrate converted to amorphous quartz. Note that the walls in the channels are extremely smooth; more than 90% of the silicon is removed. Fiducial bar"2.5 m whose resistivity is &10cm, the resistance of a 1 cm, 0.36 mm thick plate silicon MCP having 6 mchannel openings on 8 m centers, "60 (for example), would draw about 1200 W at 1 KV. Therefore, bare silicon plates cannot be used due to excessive conductivity. A strategy of coating the silicon with an insulat- ing coating, then a strip resistance layer and then a secondary emission layer has been employed to circumvent this problem. A schematic diagram of the coatings necessary for reproducing the func- tionality of the reduced lead glass microchannel plate surface is shown in Fig. 6. The insulating layer provides the isolation necessary to keep the gener- ated secondary electrons from being shunted by the conducting silicon substrate. The strip resistance is a weakly conducting layer that re-supplies charge to the secondary emission layer to maintain the secondary electron gain. The isolation layer strategy was initially dis- cussed by Tasker et al. [3,4] in the development of silicon-based MCP and as for coatings for single- channel multipliers. They developed a successful coating system for quartz tube single-channel multipliers that employed a slightly oxidized poly- silicon layer that provided both the strip resistance and secondary emission surface. Electrical isolation and strip resistance of the silicon MCP is accomp- lished using a two-step isolation procedure. Since the Si-MCP substrate is conductive, the strip resistance layer must "rst be insulated from the Si substrate as illustrated in Fig. 6. The isolation can be accomplished by thermally oxidizing the Si- MCP substrate and/or depositing an insulating layer. The insulating layer thickness depends on the bias voltage stand-o! required. After the SiMCP substrate wafer has been diced into the desired SiMCP shapes, they are inserted into a high-tem- perature wet oxygen oxidation furnace to grow a thick (&1 m or more) oxide layer on the top C.P. Beetz et al. / Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 442 (2000) 443 } 451 445

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