Solid-state thermal neutron detectors are desired to replace ³He tube based technology for the detection of special nuclear materials. ³He tubes have some issues with stability, sensitivity to microphonics and very recently, a shortage of ³He. There are numerous solid-state approaches being investigated that utilize various architectures and material combinations. By using the combination of high-aspect-ratio silicon PIN pillars, which are 2 μm wide with a 2 μm separation, arranged in a square matrix, and surrounded by ¹⁰B, the neutron converter material, a high efficiency thermal neutron detector is possible. Besides intrinsic neutron detection efficiency, neutron to gamma discrimination is an important figure of merit for unambiguous signal identification. In this work, theoretical calculations and experimental measurements are conducted to determine the effect of structure design of pillar structured thermal neutron detectors including: intrinsic layer thickness, pillar height, substrate doping and incident gamma energy on neutron to gamma discrimination.

Date Published: 4 May 2012
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 8358, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Sensing XIII, 83581N (4 May 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.918513

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8358:
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Sensing XIII
Augustus Way Fountain III, Editor(s)