Present Status of Image Intensifier Systems

In its application to high-energy physics the luminescent chamber image intensifier system holds forth the promise of combining the advantage of visual measuring techniques with the advantage of the high time resolution of electronic counters. To realize this potential it is necessary that a system satisfy three basic requirements: 1) it should be a competent image-producing device capable of yielding pictures of minimum ionizing particle tracks with small distortion and with sufficient spatial resolution to permit adequate measurements to be made; 2) it should be a gated system with a time resolution of about one microsecond or less; and 3) it should utilize luminescent chambers large enough to allow useful experiments to be done, which demands high efficiency of the image preserving optical coupling between chamber and intensifier. This paper will describe the extent to which presently existing systems meet these requirements and indicate the improvements likely to be forthcoming from developmental efforts now in progress.