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University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Peter Dowben Publications

Neutron detection

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Physics

Gamma And X-Ray Sensitivity Of Gd2O3 Heterojunctions, Juan A. Colon Santana, C M. Young, J W. Mcclory, J C. Petrosky, X Wang, P Liu, Jinke Tang, V T. Adamiv, Ya V. Burak, Keisuke Fukutani, Peter A. Dowben Jan 2013

Gamma And X-Ray Sensitivity Of Gd2O3 Heterojunctions, Juan A. Colon Santana, C M. Young, J W. Mcclory, J C. Petrosky, X Wang, P Liu, Jinke Tang, V T. Adamiv, Ya V. Burak, Keisuke Fukutani, Peter A. Dowben

Peter Dowben Publications

We find that Gd2O3 thin films strongly favor a (-402) texture growth on a variety of substrates and will form heterojunction diodes with silicon, especially when doped with oxygen vacancies. Even in the thin film limit, these heterojunction diodes appear to be sensitive to gamma radiation, likely from the X-rays created by scattering events, adding to the numerous hurdles that must be overcome if Gd based semiconductor devices are to be used for solid state neutron detection applications.


A Handheld Neutron-Detection Sensor System Utilizing A New Class Of Boron Carbide Diode, Kevin Osberg, Nathan Schemm, M. Susan Hallbeck, Sina Balkir, Peter A. Dowben, Jennifer I. Brand, Michael W. Hoffman Dec 2006

A Handheld Neutron-Detection Sensor System Utilizing A New Class Of Boron Carbide Diode, Kevin Osberg, Nathan Schemm, M. Susan Hallbeck, Sina Balkir, Peter A. Dowben, Jennifer I. Brand, Michael W. Hoffman

Peter Dowben Publications

A handheld neutron-detection sensor application is described in this paper. The sensor system utilizes a new class of boron carbide diode that interacts with incoming neutrons. To interface with the boron carbide diode, an integrated front end is designed in a 1.5-μm standard CMOS technology. With the diode and front-end microchip, a handheld neutron-detection system was realized with an embedded microcontroller for real-time processing. The handheld detector operation was then tested with a plutonium–beryllium neutron source. Test and measurement results confirm the validity of the approach and the functionality of the design.


The All Boron Carbide Diode Neutron Detector: Comparison With Theory, A. N. Caruso, Peter A. Dowben, S. Balkir, Nathan Schemm, Kevin Osberg, R.W. Fairchild, Oscar Barrios Flores, Snjezana Balaz, A.D. Harken, Brian W. Robertson, Jennifer I. Brand Nov 2006

The All Boron Carbide Diode Neutron Detector: Comparison With Theory, A. N. Caruso, Peter A. Dowben, S. Balkir, Nathan Schemm, Kevin Osberg, R.W. Fairchild, Oscar Barrios Flores, Snjezana Balaz, A.D. Harken, Brian W. Robertson, Jennifer I. Brand

Peter Dowben Publications

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.