Mass spectrum measurement using a one-dimensional focal plane detector

The objective of a focal plane detector (FPD) is to measure as accurately as possible the spectrum incident on it and therefore the central problem to be resolved is to relate the measured spectrum to the incident spectrum. This is a non-trivial task when the FPD is preceded by a microchannel plate electron multiplier (MCP) or other distorting element but an understanding of the characteristics can help to harness the power of the array. The measurement process for a one-dimensional array of discrete counters is analyzed and where the measured spectrum depends linearly on the incident spectrum, the measurement process has been modeled using simple matrix algebra. This model has been exploited in a number of ways outlined in this paper including the correction of non-uniformity and its extension to the non-linear region is under consideration. (Int J Mass Spectrom 215 (2002) 195-209) (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.