Patent ID: 8402791

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a microchannel plate, the method comprising: (1) a first step of fabricating a plurality of multifibers each having a polygonal cross-section with three or more corners, by bundling a plurality of fibers and thinning the bundle, the plurality of fibers to be bundled including: a plurality of first fibers each comprising a center part which includes a core and is formed of a first glass material with solubility to a predetermined solvent, and an outer circumferential part which surrounds the center part of the first fiber and is formed of a second glass material with insolubility to the predetermined solvent; and a plurality of second fibers each consisting of a third glass material with insolubility to the predetermined solvent, the first and second fibers being bundled such that each of the second fibers is positioned at one or more associated corners of the polygonal cross-section of each of the multifibers to be fabricated; (2) a second step of fabricating a microchannel plate base material, by arranging the plurality of multifibers while side portions of the adjacent multifibers, each corresponding to one side of the polygonal cross-section, are in contact with each other; and (3) a third step of fabricating a microchannel plate, by slicing the microchannel plate base material into flat plates, the third step including a step of etching a slice fiat plate with the predetermined solvent.