Temporal magnification for streaked ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy

Synchronous gating in dilation x-ray detector without 1:1 image ratio

An x-ray detector using a pulse-dilation technology to achieve high temporal resolution is reported. The electron pulse generated from the photo-cathode (PC) is first dilated by a pulse-dilation device and then imaged onto the microchannel plate (MCP) by a magnetic lens imaging system. Finally, the dilated electron pulse is detected by a gated MCP. A resolution of 14 ps is achieved. In addition, the synchronous gating is studied in the dilation x-ray detector without a 1:1 image ratio. The results show that while the time of flight (TOF) of the electrons is identical, the MCP gating pulse can be timed relative to the PC excitation pulse to gate the dilated electron signal in a single area, and they are unsynchronized in the other area. To avoid the single area synchronization effect, the magnetic lens imaging system used in the detector should allow photoelectrons with a large energy spread to be imaged onto the MCP. This effect can also be reduced by using an MCP gating pulse with a width larger than 500 ps. Moreover, a 1:1 image ratio can avoid this effect. Furthermore, a decreasing electron TOF can eliminate the single area synchronization effect.