A microchannel plate (MCP) is used to detect single particles and photons. It is closely related to an electron multiplier, as both intensify single particles or photons by the multiplication of electrons via secondary emission. Because a microchannel plate detector has many separate channels, it can provide spatial resolution.

In experimental and applied particle physics, nuclear physics, and nuclear engineering, a particle detector, also known as a radiation detector, is a device used to detect, track, and/or identify ionizing particles, such as those produced by nuclear decay, cosmic radiation, or reactions in a particle accelerator. Detectors can measure the particle energy and other attributes such as momentum, spin, charge, particle type, in addition to merely registering the presence of the particle.