Persistence of phosphor glow in microchannel plate image intensifiers

Abstract

Image intensifier tubes using microchannel plate amplification stages and phosphor output stages are being increasingly used in various detection applications. In this paper we report measurements of the decay times of what we attribute to be the P20 phosphors in various image intensifiers. We find that the long tail on the decay curve of the phosphor following illumination can be a limitation for certain observations. In addition, the background level of phosphor glow (which is seen by the subsequent detection system as a light signal) continues to build with continuing illumination.