A New Tool for Rapid Additive Manufacturing of Large Area Detectors

Radiation detectors are broadly useful for nuclear nonproliferation as well as many scientific, medical, and defense applications. One element of these detectors is often a microchannel plate, which can amplify signals by a million fold, allowing single particles to be detected with normal electronics. Microchannel plates are currently made by an expensive and laborious process. We have pioneered creating these structures by using a commercial 3d printer with very high resolution. Unfortunately, the design of this printer makes it very slow. A dime-sized device takes over 50 hours to print. This has been adequate for exploring the technique, but is much too slow for creating detectors of useful size (for example 12x12cm, the size of a compact disc case). We have a design for a new 3d printer that will be much faster. In phase I of this work, we will design and test a key component of this printer, and with other components prove that the design really will be much faster. If the tests are successful, we will build and test a prototype in phase II and demonstrate that it can quickly print useful size microchannel plates for use in radiation detectors. A new objective for which we have a patent application will be specified and ordered, along with custom lasers and a scanning system. These components will be carefully assembled and tested.Test prints will be made that will then be studied by microscopy. This technology could lead to a 3d printer that is directly useful for many applications. Any customers who want large, high precision and surface finish pieces in thermoplastic would find this interesting. For example, rapid prototyping shops would be customers for the printer. The radiation detector has many other uses, such as for homeland security, medical imaging, and analytical lab instruments.