Gamma discrimination in pillar structured thermal neutron detectors

Abstract

Solid-state thermal neutron detectors are desired to replace 3 He tube based technology for the detection of special nuclear materials.3 He tubes have some issues with stability, sensitivity to microphonics and very recently, a shortage of 3 He. There are numerous solid-state approaches being investigated that utilize various architectures and material combinations. By using the combination of high-aspect-ratio silicon PIN pillars, which are 2 µm wide with a 2 µm separation, arranged in a square matrix, and surrounded by 10 B, the neutron converter material, a high efficiency thermal neutron detector is possible. Besides intrinsic neutron detection efficiency, neutron to gamma discrimination is an important figure of merit for unambiguous signal identification. In this work, theoretical calculations and experimental measurements are conducted to determine the effect of structure design of pillar structured thermal neutron detectors including: intrinsic layer thickness, pillar height, substrate doping and incident gamma energy on neutron to gamma discrimination.