The all boron carbide diode neutron detector: Comparison with theory

Authors

A. N. Caruso, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Peter A. Dowben, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
S. Balkir, North Dakota State UniversityFollow
Nathan Schemm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Kevin Osberg, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
R.W. Fairchild, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE
Oscar Barrios Flores, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Snjezana Balaz, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
A.D. Harken, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Brian W. Robertson, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Jennifer I. Brand, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

11-25-2006

Comments

Published in Materials Science and Engineering: B 135:2 (November 25, 2006), pp. 129-133. doi:10.1016/j.mseb.2006.08.049 Copyright © 2006 Elsevier B.V. Used by permission. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09215107.

Abstract

A boron carbide diode detector, fabricated from two different polytypes of semiconducting boron carbide, will detect neutrons in reasonable agreement with theory. Small deviations from the model calculations occur due to the detection efficiencies of the ¹⁰B capture products Li plus α sum signal differing somewhat from expectation in the thin diodes. The performance of the all boron carbide neutron detector does depart from the behavior of devices where a boron rich neutron capture layer is distinct from the diode charge collection region (i.e. a conversion layer solid state detector), as is expected.