T. Madi et al., Development of neutron detector using the surface barrier sensor with polyethylene (n, p) and B-10 (n,alpha) converters, NUCL INST A, 458(1-2), 2001, pp. 441-447
A Si semiconductor detector, surface barrier type, with a slim film of a co
nverter material, capable to produce charged particles, was used as a senso
r of neutrons to be used in an environment of a zero power reactor. Two typ
es of converters were used to improve the detection efficiency: (1) polyeth
ylene. n(CH2), which produces recoil protons from the (n.p) interaction and
, (2) B-10 which generates ex particles from the (n,cx) reaction. The optim
al thickness of these converters was determined experimentally. Specificall
y for the polyethylene, a mathematical model was developed to fit the exper
imental data. For an AmBe source the optimum polyethylene converter thickne
ss was of 5.8 x 10(-2) cm (61.64 mg cm(-2)), while for the B-10 it was equa
l to 6.55 x 10(-4) cm (1.54 mg cm(-2)). The converters of polyethylene and
B-10 improved the detection efficiency to a factor of 4.7 and 3.0, respecti
vely, compared to measurements without converter. Comparing the three spect
ra of the background radiation, the polyethylene recoil protons and the B-1
0 alpha radiation, it was concluded that the polyethylene presented better
performance than the B-10 converter. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig
hts reserved.