[en] Gated, microchannel-plate-based (MCP) framing cameras have been deployed worldwide for 0.2--9 keV x-ray imaging and spectroscopy of transient plasma phenomena. For a variety of spectroscopic and imaging applications, the angular sensitivity of MCPs must be known for correctly interpreting the data. We present systematic measurements of angular sensitivity at discrete relevant photon energies and arbitrary MCP gain. The results can been accurately predicted by using a simple two-dimensional approximation to the three-dimensional MCP geometry and by averaging over all possible photon ray paths

[en] Microchannel plates (MCPs) are used in many diagnostic systems to study laser-plasma interactions. Typically the front surface of a MCP is coated with some photocathode (PC) material to convert x ray to electron. This is followed by electron multiplication along the microchannels. Materials such as CsI, Al, and Au have been identified as good PC materials, but the overall quantum efficiencies of these materials are low, so that electron multiplication along the channel has been the only path to signal amplification. This approach is known to have some problems (J. D. Wiedwald, University of California UCRL-JC-110906, August 1992). We investigated the effect of pairing transmission PC to standard MC close-quote s and found that CsI and Au foils used in multilayered configuration, significantly enhance the overall quantum efficiency of the combination. The findings could lead to better MCP design and fabrication