A photon-counting detector for determination of the ion temperature in magnetically confined plasmas has been developed.1 The detector is based around an image intensifier tube which is fiber optically coupled to a self-scanning linear photodiode array. The image intensifier incorporates three high strip current (∼280 μA) microchannel plates in a ‘‘Z’’ configuration. Frame times of 10 μs are possible through the use of pixel selection, resulting in a time resolution on the order of 5 ms. The detector system will be mounted on a 1-M Ebert–Fastie spectrometer and used to study the Alcator C plasma. Laboratory evaluation of the detector and associated electronics has been completed. The results of this evaluation, and progress toward integration of the detector and spectrometer systems, will be presented. This work, and additional information, will be published in greater detail in the near future.