Thin film CdTe based neutron detectors with high thermal neutron efficiency and gamma rejection for security applications

L. Smith, J. W. Murphy, J. Kim, S. Rozhdestvenskyy, I. Mejia, H. Park, David Allee, M. Quevedo-Lopez, B. Gnade

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Solid-state neutron detectors offer an alternative to 3He based detectors, but suffer from limited neutron efficiencies that make their use in security applications impractical. Solid-state neutron detectors based on single crystal silicon also have relatively high gamma-ray efficiencies that lead to false positives. Thin film polycrystalline CdTe based detectors require less complex processing with significantly lower gamma-ray efficiencies. Advanced geometries can also be implemented to achieve high thermal neutron efficiencies competitive with silicon based technology. This study evaluates these strategies by simulation and experimentation and demonstrates an approach to achieve >10% intrinsic efficiency with <10−6 gamma-ray efficiency.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)117-123
Number of pages7
JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume838
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2016

Keywords

  • CdTe
  • Low cost detection methods
  • Neutron detection
  • Semiconductor radiation detectors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Instrumentation

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