Microchannel Plate Pore Size Limited Imaging with Ultra-Thin Wedge and Strip Anodes

We describe a detector employing a curved channel microchannel plate (MCP) in front of an optimised, thin substrate wedge and strip anode (WSA) imaging readout. We obtain a position resolution better than 20μm FWHM allowing the images of individual MCP pores to be distinguished. The collimation provided by a single pore is used to probe the fundamental limitations in resolution of the WSA. Finally, having experimentally verified the limitations imposed by electronic and partition noise, we describe a detector which will produce 20μm FWHM resolution over a 50mm diameter imaging area.