Solid State Thermal Neutron Detectors Based on Boron-doped Amorphous Selenium

Thermal neutrons are among the most useful probes for investigation of the structural, magnetic and acoustic properties of materials. Current methods of thermal neutron detection by large cumbersome gas counters or scintillator-photomultiplier tube combinations are limited by their detection efficiency, stability of response, speed of operation, and physical size. To address these needs, EIC plans to construct a large-area, lightweight, high-resolution, and very fast position sensitive thermal neutron detector based on a highly B-doped a-Se (As, Cl) alloy semiconductor. The proposed detector would offer high detection efficiency over existing instruments, and would be inexpensive for industrial mass production. The Phase I project will focus on the development and optimization of the B-doped a-Se alloy materials, detector fabrication, and performance evaluation by radiation testing. The Phase I research will establish the basic feasibility studies followed by various characterizations to reach optimum detector performance. The resulting detectors will be compact, low power consuming devices, highly sensitive, and rugged. The developed detectors will find widespread use in nuclear non-proliferation, radiation safety, structural characterization in materials research, protein dynamics, monitoring chemical and biological reactions in "real time", and in characterizing polymer surfaces.