High Efficiency, Low Noise Transmission Dynodes

NanoSciences Corporation in conjunction with Burle Industries proposes to develop a new generation of high efficiency lightweight, low noise multi-pixel photomultiplier tubes. In this proposal we present a novel approach to developing a high secondary electron yield diamond based transmission secondary electron dynode photomultiplier that could play an important role in producing a detector suitable for use in the proposed OWL experiments. The robust negative electron affinity condition that can be stabilized on diamond film surfaces together with newly discovered methods for growth of diamond films coupled with a miniaturized micromachined approach for supporting a transmission dynode stack make possible a low profile light weight imaging photomultiplier. The Office of Space Science's Structure and Evolution of the Universe theme is dedicated to the design and construction of astrophysical observation systems. One such mission is the detection of extremely high energy cosmic rays E > 1019 eV, using the proposed Orbiting Wide angle Light detector (OWL). The OWL satellites are equipped with an array of several million photodetectors for observing scintillation events caused by ultra-high energy cosmic rays as they traverse the earths atmosphere. The proposed compact high gain, low noise imaging transmission dynode PMT directly addresses this application.