Picosecond imaging at high spatial resolution using TOFPET2 AISC v2d and microchannel plate detector

Microchannel plate-based detectors provide advantages over their solid-state counterparts for applications where a combination of virtually zero noise photon-counting, large format, short wavelength sensitivity with high resolution timing and imaging are required. Solar-blind applications, Cherenkov detectors for high energy physics, and UV astronomy are such fields. The application to Cherenkov detection is particularly demanding, requiring time resolution below 100 picoseconds combined with imaging and high throughput. This requires the readout to combine high spatial and temporal event resolution at high rates necessitating a parallel readout approach. We describe a readout design comprising a pixellated readout array instrumented using multi-channel fast timing electronics and incorporating charge centroiding to achieve sub-pixel spatial resolution. We present experimental results of the relationship between time-over-threshold and signal amplitude and a centroiding image obtained with an MCP detector using a pixellated readout geometry. The readout was optimised for a fast electronics implementation based on the TOFPET system, a multi-channel all-in-one ASIC originally designed for time-of-flight PET using silicon photomultipliers.