Semiconducting boron-rich neutron detectors

Brian W. Robertson; Shireen Adenwalla; Andrew Harken; Peter Welsch; Jennifer I. Brand; John Paul Claassen; Neil M. Boag; Peter A. Dowben

doi:10.1117/12.453923

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18 November 2002 Semiconducting boron-rich neutron detectors

Brian W. Robertson, Shireen Adenwalla, Andrew Harken, Peter Welsch, Jennifer I. Brand, John Paul Claassen, Neil M. Boag, Peter A. Dowben

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Proceedings Volume 4785, Advances in Neutron Scattering Instrumentation; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.453923
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2002, Seattle, WA, United States

Abstract

Semiconducting boron-rich boron-carbon alloys have been deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Heterojunction diodes made with 276nm thick nanocrystalline layers of these alloys have been used as real-time solid-state neutron detectors. Individual neutrons were detected and signals induced by gamma rays were determined to be insignificant. Linearity of detection was demonstrated over more than two orders of magnitude in flux. The neutron detection performance was unaffected by > 1 x 10¹⁵ neutrons / cm². The source gas closo-1,2-dicarbadodecaborane (ortho-carborane) was used to fabricate the boron carbon alloys with only the natural isotopic abundance of ¹⁰B. Devices made of thicker boron carbon alloy layers enriched in ¹⁰B could lead to increased detection efficiency.

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Brian W. Robertson, Shireen Adenwalla, Andrew Harken, Peter Welsch, Jennifer I. Brand, John Paul Claassen, Neil M. Boag, and Peter A. Dowben "Semiconducting boron-rich neutron detectors", Proc. SPIE 4785, Advances in Neutron Scattering Instrumentation, (18 November 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.453923

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