50 Ω transmission lines
Impedance-matched, EMI-shielded lines printed directly on the board.
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Subproject · Detector readout
PCB anodes: timing detectors with high signal fidelity.
Passive, capacitively coupled readout anodes for microchannel plates and channeltrons, built on segmented polyimide laminates — the technology published in Kendler et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. (2026).
Our approach
From FR4 problems to polyimide laminates.
Regular PCBs in vacuum
- Outgassing of volatile components
- Not suitable for high-frequency signals out of the box
- Limited temperature range — no bake-out possible
Our segmented polyimide laminates
- No outgassing
- High breakdown-voltage capacitor embedded in the board
- High-frequency compatible material
- Temperature tolerance for bake-out
Embedded capacitor
High-voltage capacitive out-coupling built into the laminate stack.
High-bandwidth connectors
On-board SMA mounts for 2 GHz coaxial cables.
Segmented pickup patches
Arbitrarily shaped signal pickup segments for parallel readout.
Engineering
Four UHV readout problems,
solved on one laminate.
| UHV / high-voltage / HF challenge | Our solution |
|---|---|
| Stiff, brittle insulation materials such as ceramics — unreliable mounting in tight spaces | Flexible laminates with high-voltage capacitive out-coupling included — flexible for different applications |
| Unshielded UHV wires unsuitable for HF signal transmission — high AC noise floor | Printed 2D transmission lines with 50 Ω impedance — ultralow signal noise |
| Discontinuous line impedance at non-standard cable connections — signal ringing | On-board SMA connectors and 2 GHz coax for constant 50 Ω matching — no signal ringing |
| HV feedthroughs typically not high-bandwidth compatible — damping | HV capacitive out-coupling embedded in the design — high signal amplitudes |
- Higher-bandwidth signal read-out
- Lower noise floor on the transmission line
- Higher signal-to-noise ratio
Results
From 500 ns of ringing
to a clean 5 ns pulse.
≪ 1 nssignal rise time
< 100 pssignal jitter
80–100 psTOF stop-time resolution — world record
> 1 MHzcount rate — real-time process control with an RGA
Beyond the MCP
Fits a channeltron.
Fits tight spaces.
- Higher TOF resolution — higher mass resolution
- Higher count rates — faster spectrum acquisition
- Higher sensitivity — detect trace amounts
- Segmented MCP anode — measure faster, in parallel
- Fits a channeltron, fits tight spaces
Faster, cleaner detector readout
for your instrument.
The segmented anode is published and running — as an MCP timing anode and on a channeltron. We are looking for partners who want this signal fidelity in their own detectors.