A MOSFET-based high voltage nanosecond pulse module for the gating of proximity-focused microchannel plate image-intensifier

Gate modules based on avalanche technology for photocathode gating to proximity-focused microchannel-plate image intensifier (MCPII) are often limited to short gate exposures. A nanosecond pulse module based on MOSFET devices has been demonstrated at our lab, which is capable of generating pulses of adjustable full width at half maximum (FWHM) from 3 ns to D.C. operation with 1 ns switching time and a burst repetition rate up to 4 MHz. A method of supplying gate-current pulses to the MOSFET device is adopted to increase the switching speed based on the totem pole driver. Nanosecond optical gating time of an 18-mm proximity-focused MCPII with a metallic underlay photocathode was obtained. A MCPII with standard multi-alkali photocathode was analyzed for comparison. Moreover, a photocathode-MCP model based on the Finite Integral Technique (FIT) is developed to investigate the dependence of the gating time on the sheet resistance of the photocathode.