A High-gain Channel Electron Multiplier (CEM) Array and Some of Its Operational Characteristics

Abstract

This chapter discusses operation characteristics of a high-gain channel electron multiplier (CEM) array. CEM arrays are being increasingly used in image converters and intensifiers as well as fast photon and particle counters. In this study, the experimental method consists of etching small grooves into glass platelets. The etched platelets are covered with a glass frit, piled up, and sealed together, the channels of each platelet representing a row of the array. The actual material consists of microscope cover slides, referred to as platelets. A layer of copper is evaporated on to one of the faces of the platelets to a thickness of about 100 nm. Slits corresponding to the desired form of the channels are then etched into the Cu layer by a photo-resist method, and finally, the channels are etched into the glass by hydrofluoric acid, the Cu layer now serving as the etching mask. In the next step, a layer providing the required properties of conductivity and secondary emission is prepared by sedimentation on to the walls. The experiment results demonstrate the feasibility of producing channel-multiplier arrays starting from glass platelets as a raw material.