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Gallium Arsenide P-I_N Detectors for High-sensitivity Imaging of Thermal Neutrons

Award Information
Agency: Department of Energy
Branch: N/A
Contract: N/A
Agency Tracking Number: 41722
Amount: $74,932.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 1998
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
One Patriots Park
Bedford, MA 01730
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Mr. Stanley M. Vernon
 Senior Scientist, Opto.
 (781) 275-6000
Business Contact
 Dr. Everett S. McGinley
Title: VP & GM Optoelectronics
Phone: (781) 275-6000
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

50332-98-I
Gallium Arsenide P-I-N Detectors for High-Sensitivity Imaging of Thermal Neutrons--Spire Corporation, One Patriots Park, Bedford, MA 01730-2343;
(781) 275-6000
Mr. Stanley M. Vernon, Principal Investigator
Dr. Everett S. McGinley, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER82672
Amount: $74,932

Nuclear Physics research has a need for small, reliable, room-temperature thermal neutron detector arrays having improved performance in terms of higher sensitivity and lower dark currents. Such detectors are also needed for interrogation of radiation environments in such arenas as energy production, industry, research, treaty verification, and tracking of illicit materials. This project will develop a GaAs-based diode detector with a PIN junction (grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition), leading to improved performance over past designs which used Schottky barriers deposited directly on bulk GaAs semi-insulating wafers. Those wafers had poor carrier-transport properties (and lower sensitivity) compared with the high-quality epitaxially grown GaAs. Phase I will develop epitaxially grown GaAs diode structures, comparing both PIN-junction and Schottky barrier designs. Buffer layers of AlGaAs, to block unwanted carriers and getter impurities, will also be examined. Detectors, having boron-10 converter layers on the front, will be designed, fabricated, and tested in a flux of thermal neutrons.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The detectors to be developed here will lead to reliable, room-temperature, high-sensitivity, low-bias, low-noise radiation-monitoring instrumentation for imaging neutron sources with high spatial resolution. Ultimately, integrated pixel arrays will be developed._

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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