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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
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
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.