Nuclear Engineering Commons^™

Micro Structured Sensors For Neutron Detection, D. S. Mcgregor, S. L. Bellinger, J. C. Boyington, Y. Cheng, R. G. Fronk, W. Fu, L. C. Henson, J. D. Hewitt, C. W. Hilger, R. M. Hutchins, K. E. Kellogg, J. A. Medina, D. M. Nichols, T. R. Ochs, M. A. Reichenberger, J. A. Roberts, S. R. Stevenson, T. M. Swope, T. C. Unruh

Symposium on Advanced Sensors and Modeling Techniques for Nuclear Reactor Safety

The shortage of ³He gas, identified as a problem several years ago, initiated research into alternative neutron detectors for various applications. One such technology is the microstructured semiconductor neutron detector (MSND). These compact detectors have microstructures etched deeply into the substrates that are subsequently backfilled with neutron reactive material. Single sided devices typically have thermal neutron detection efficiencies exceeding 30%, while double sided microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors (DS-MSND) have yielded >69% thermal neutron detection efficiency. Both MSNDs and DS-MSNDs have been integrated into compact low-noise and low-power electronics modules. Dosimetry calculations indicate that these detectors can be used as …