Operational Characteristics of Wedge and Strip Image Readout Systems

We discuss application of the Wedge and Strip readout system in microchannel plate detectors for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer and FAUST space astronomy programs. Anode designs with high resolution (>600 × 600 pixels) in imaging and spectroscopy applications have been developed. Extension of these designs to larger formats (100mm) with higher resolution (3000 × 3000 pixels) are considered. We show that the resolution and imaging are highly stable and that the flat field performance is essentially limited by photon statistics. Very high speed event response has also been achieved with output pulses having durations of less than 10 nanoseconds.