This research will investigate a method for fabricating microchannel plates which will preserve the gain and efficiency of existing techniques while improving spatial resolution and response time at least tenfold. This new method is based on accelerator bombardment and particle track etching. Passage of a high energy particle through a sheet of base glass leaves a latent damage trail of broken bonds. When submerged in an etching solution, material along the damage trail etches preferentially to form conical pits which grow toward each other. Pairs of etch pits from opposite surfaces merge to form cylinders which may be shaped into microchannels controlled by etching conditions. Phase I will determine whether the resulting surface in the channel has electrical, structural, and bulk material properties suitable for particle detection and signal amplification.
