The microchannel plate (MCP) is a two-dimensional continuous electron multiplier vacuum device that exhibits certain quantum detection efficiency for most charged particles, some high-energy particles, and short-wavelength light. As a result, it is widely used in fields such as low-light-level night-vision, aerospace detection, nuclear detection, and large-scale scientific instruments. Microchannel plate is the key core component of domestic high-end scientific instruments, as well as the key basic materials of national major projects, strategic emerging industries and national defense construction, and its material and manufacturing optimization and high performance are international research and development hotspots. The gain is an important performance characteristic for microchannel plates. The increasing in gain can improves the signal-to-noise ratio or detection efficiency. Traditional microchannel plates exhibit a gain of 2000~4000 at a test voltage of 800V, whereas the ion-beam-etched funnel microchannel plate presented in this study achieves a gain of 6020 under the same conditions. So, the research in this paper provide new opportunities to improve the quality of China's high-end instruments and get rid of the status stuck neck of key components being subject to people for a long time.
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.