Spatial charge cloud distribution of microchannel plates

We describe an experiment to measure the spatial charge distribution produced by a microchannel plate intensifier with a new type of charge division readout, the ‘‘split strip’’ anode. This anode is a modified strip and strip anode which determines both the amount of charge deposited on each half of the anode and the centroid position for each event. We present experimental measurements of microchannel plate charge cloud distributions for a variety of detector operating conditions. We find that, as a first‐order approximation, one can assume the charge cloud to be azimuthally symmetric. Additionally, the charge cloud remains virtually unchanged from event to event and pore to pore. The general form of the radial distribution is best described by the sum of two exponential components whose scale and relative weights vary with detector operating conditions. The central component of the distribution is three to six times smaller than the outer, or ‘‘wing’’ component. Typically most of the charge is in the ce...