SCANNING ELECTRON-BEAM READOUT ANODE FOR HIGH-SPEED OPTICAL PROCESSING

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A NEW CLASS OF IMAGING DETECTORS THAT DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THOSE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN THAT THE NEW DEVICE EMPLOYS A NOVEL HIGH RESOLUTION MULTI-ANODE FEEDTHROUGH PLATE (FTP) WITH APPROXIMATELY 4000 ANODES/MM(2). THIS HIGH SPEED 2-D DETECTOR ARRAY IS EXPECTED TO BE HIGHLY SENSITIVE, AND OFFERS A FAST SCANNED SERIAL READOUT SUITABLE FOR ELECTRONIC POST-PROCESSING. THIS NEW IMAGING SYSTEM IS CALLED A SCANNING ELECTRON-BEAM READOUT ANODE AND OFFERS THE FOLLOWING FEATURES: (1) OPTICAL DETECTION WITH SIMULTANEOUS PARALLEL-TO-SERIAL CONVERSION, (2) FAST POSITION SENSITIVE DETECTION WITH ANALOG INTENSITY READOUT, (3) ADJUSTABLE, GLOBAL 2-D THRESHOLDING ON RECORDED IMAGES, (4) LONG TERM 2-D SIGNAL STORAGE, AND (5) AN INTEGRATING DETECTION MODE. THE SERA SYSTEM SHOULD BE IDEAL FOR TIME VARIANT IMAGING APPLICATIONS BECAUSE OF ITS INHERENT CAPABILITY OF SIMULTANEOUS IMAGE DETECTION AND READOUT. MOREOVER, THE PROPOSED IMAGING DEVICE SHOULD BE READILY ADAPTABLE TO WIDE RANGE OF PHOTON FLUX LEVELS THROUGH SIMPLE MODIFICATION OF THE OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS. IN THIS REGARD THE SERA DEVICE HAS SEVERAL ADVANTAGES OVER CCD DETECTOR ARRAYS.