Growth,fabrication, and testing of bismuth tri-iodide semiconductor radiation detectors

Bismuth tri-iodide (BiI₃) is an attractive material for high energy resolution radiation detectors. For the purpose of this research, detectors were fabricated using single crystals grown from ultra-pure BiI₃ powder; synthesized by the Physical Vapor Transport (PVT) technique. This technique yielded powder with total impurity level of 7.9 ppm. Efforts were also made to purify commercial BiI₃ powder using a custom-built Traveling Zone Refining (TZR) system. Initial trial runs were successful in reducing the total impurity level of the commercial powder from 200 ppm to less than 50 ppm. Using the modified vertical Bridgman technique and a customized sharp tip ampoule, a large BiI₃ single crystal was grown. The crystal had a surface area of 2.2 cm² and a thickness of 0.8 cm, which corresponds to a volume of 1.78 cm³. Radiation detectors were fabricated and then tested by measuring their electrical characteristics and radiation response. An alpha particle spectrum (using a ²⁴¹Am α-source) was recorded at room temperature with a BiI₃ detector 0.09 cm thick and with a surface area of 0.16 cm². The electron mobility was estimated to be 433 ± 79 cm²/V.     

Structural and magnetic studies on Zr doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductor

In this study, Zirconium doped Zn_1−xZr_xO (with x = 0.00–0.10) samples have been prepared by formal solid-state reaction technique. The Zr doped ZnO samples annealed at 1100 °C and characterized by different characterization techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) used to study the structural properties. XRD pattern showed that lattice parameters, “a”, “c”, unit cell volume and Zn–O bond length increase with doping content (x ≤ 0.04) where as these decrease with x > 0.04. On the other hand, reverse trend observed with lattice distortion. The crystallite size decreases with increasing doping content of Zr. FTIR employed to investigate functional chemical bonding properties of different elements and compounds present in materials. The low, medium and high frequency absorption bands observed at 630, 1500 and 3435 cm⁻¹, which were the common features of Zn–O, H–O–H and O–H bond respectively. SEM used to study surface morphology and measured grain size of specimen. The surface becomes dense and grain size decreases with increasing degree of Zr contents. The SEM micrograph also shows the presence of spherical micro size particles and formation of pores in samples. Magnetic properties were obtained using VSM. The samples exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism. The magnetic hysteresis loops show variation in the value of magnetic parameter. The saturation magnetization (M_s) and coercivity (H_c) decrease, while remanence magnetization (M_r) shows gradually increasing trend with Zr content. VSM measurement reveals that sample Zn_0.96Zr_0.4O show better result as compared to x = 0.06–0.10.     

半导体物理效应及其应用讲座第四讲光吸收跃迁效应与半导体红外探测器的应用发展

光吸收跃迁效应是半导体光电探测器的基本物理过程.文章主要介绍光吸收跃迁效应在窄禁带半导体红外探测器应用方面的研究进展.讨论窄禁带半导体带间光吸收跃迁的理论和实验.文章还介绍了本征光吸收系数的表达式及其在材料表征和确定器件截止波长方面的应用,以及它在解释近年来发现的HgCdTe光电二极管电致负荧光现象方面的应用.     

电流型大面积PIN探测器

研制了灵敏区面积为40,50和60mm,耗尽层厚度为200—300μm的电流型大面积薄型PIN半导体探测器,并对其物理性能进行了测量.测试和应用表明,这些探测器性能稳定,漏电流符合使用要求.与市场上的大面积PIN半导体探测器相比,这些探测器主要在几百伏偏压下工作在电流模式,但也可用于计数模式,而目前的商用产品仅适用于计数测量. 关键词： 半导体探测器 大面积 电流型     

波段外激光辐照PC型探测器的反常响应机制

 提出了PC型半导体探测器对波段外激光辐照的热电子光电导响应机制。响应波段外激光辐照PC型半导体探测器时,探测器有响应且输出电压信号迅速增大,与波段内激光辐照时的响应规律截然不同,这是由光激发能带内热电子而引起的光电导现象。当较强功率的激光辐照时还应考虑热效应。依据该机制进行了模拟计算,计算结果表明当PC型HgCdTe探测器被波段外激光辐照时,热电子的产生使得电导率减小,进而导致探测器的电阻增大。     

波段外激光辐照PC型探测器的反常响应机制

提出了PC型半导体探测器对波段外激光辐照的热电子光电导响应机制。响应波段外激光辐照PC型半导体探测器时,探测器有响应且输出电压信号迅速增大,与波段内激光辐照时的响应规律截然不同,这是由光激发能带内热电子而引起的光电导现象。当较强功率的激光辐照时还应考虑热效应。依据该机制进行了模拟计算,计算结果表明当PC型HgCdTe探测器被波段外激光辐照时,热电子的产生使得电导率减小,进而导致探测器的电阻增大。     

新型CZT半导体X射线和g射线探测器研制与应用展望

CdZnTe(CZT)半导体是一种性能优异的室温X射线和γ射线探测材料,在环境监测、医学诊断、工业无损检测、安全检查、空间科学等众多领域有广泛的应用前景。文章简要介绍了CZT探测器的基本工作原理和性能评价指标,阐述了CZT晶体物理性能对CZT探测器性能的影响规律和CZT探测器的模拟与设计方法。CZT半导体探测器的应用与发展前景广阔,为此需要重点开展高质量、低成本的CZT晶体生长研究,CZT探测器的设计与制备以及辐射探测整机系统的设计与开发。     

Thermoluminescence and dosimetric properties of bismuth doped CaS nanocrystalline phosphor

The irradiation effect on bismuth doped CaS nanocrystalline phosphors and their possible applications to solid state dosimetry have been studied. The wet chemical co-precipitation method has been used for preparation of nanocrystallites. In UV exposed CaS nanocrystallites, the thermoluminescence glow curve consists of two peaks at 439 and 561 K. The effect of different concentrations, dose dependence, fading and reusability in CaS:Bi nanocrystallites have been investigated. The high temperature peak (dosimetric peak) intensity is nearly linear in a wide range of UV exposure. A blue shift has been observed in photoluminescence spectra, which may be attributed to quantum size effect.     

Optical and other spectroscopic studies of lead, zinc bismuth borate glasses doped with CuO

10MO·20Bi₂O₃·(70−x)B₂O₃·xCuO [M=Pb, Zn] with x=0, 0.4 and 0.8 (wt%) glasses were synthesized by the melt-quenching technique and were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Physical parameters, like density, and spectroscopic studies (optical absorption, EPR, FTIR and photoluminescence) were used to understand the role of modifier oxide and CuO in the glass matrix. A red shift of the absorption band corresponds to ²B_1g→²B_2g transition of Cu²⁺ ions from P2 to Z4 samples and the increase of hyperfine splitting factor (A_‖) from P2 to Z2 shows that with the integration of PbO by ZnO the electron density around copper ion is increased. It is also supported by the gradual increase in theoretical optical basicity values of ZnO mixed glasses, as compared to that of PbO mixed glass matrix. Reduced bismuth radicals are found in undoped and 0.4% CuO doped glasses of both the series. Analysis of the absorption and emission studies indicates that the concentration of luminescence centers of bismuth ions (Bi³⁺ ions in UV region) is decreased by the integration of ZnO as well as by increasing the dopant concentration. In lead series PbO₄ and BiO₃ units are increased from P2 to P4 and in zinc series BiO₃ units are decreased from Z0 to Z4. The conductivity of the glass matrices is increased in both the series with the dopant of CuO.     

Fabrication and properties of Li-doped ZnCoO diluted magnetic semiconductor thin films

Li-doped ZnCoO (ZnCoO:Li) diluted magnetic semiconductor thin films were prepared on SiO₂ substrates by pulsed laser deposition. In ZnCoO:Li films, Co²⁺ substituted Zn²⁺ and Li occupied the interstitial sites behaving as donors. The ZnCoO:Li films are of high electron concentration in the 10²⁰ cm⁻³ order and acceptable crystal quality with a hexagonal wurtzite structure. No cluster, precipitate, or second phase was found from the X-ray diffraction pattern and Co k-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure measurements. The sp-d exchange interactions between the band electrons and the localized d electrons of Co ions substituting Zn ions were observed. The magnetization of ZnCoO:Li film is 0.61 μB/Co, higher than that of the ZnCoO film (0.49 μB/Co). The enhanced defect density and electron concentration due to the introduced Li donors may answer for the improvement of ferromagnetism at room temperature.     

V掺杂6H-SiC光导开关制备与性能研究

采用V掺杂半绝缘6H-SiC单晶衬底材料制备了平面电极型大功率SiC光导开关,用强度为150μJ/mm2、波长为355nm的脉冲激光对开关进行触发,在1~14kV的外加电压范围内对光导开关的耐压特性、导通电阻等性能进行了研究。结果表明:随着开关外加电压的升高,开关的电流峰值呈现不断增大的趋势,当开关外加电压为14kV时,电流峰值达185A,对应的光导开关峰值功率为2.59MW,开关的导通电阻约为22Ω。     

Synthesis,structural, optical,and magnetic properties of Co doped,Sm doped and Co+Sm co-doped ZnS nanoparticles

The compositional, structural, optical and magnetic properties of ZnS, Zn_0.98Co_0.02S, Zn_0.98Sm_0.02S and Zn_0.96Co_0.02Sm_0.02S nanoparticles synthesized by a hydrothermal method are presented and discussed. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) studies revealed that all the samples exhibited cubic structure without any impurity phases. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results revealed that the Co and Sm ions existed in +2 and +3 states in these samples. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of all the samples exhibited a broad emission in the visible region. The room temperature magnetization versus applied magnetic field (M–H) curves demonstrated that the Sm+Co doped nanoparticles exhibited enhanced ferromagnetic behavior compare to Co and Sm individually doped ZnS nanoparticles, which is probably due to the exchange interaction between conductive electrons with local spin polarized electrons on the Co²⁺ or Sm³⁺ ions. This study intensifies the understanding of the novel performances of co-doped ZnS nanoparticles and also provides possibilities to fabricate future spintronic devices.     

V掺杂6H-SiC光导开关制备与性能研究

采用V掺杂半绝缘6H-SiC单晶衬底材料制备了平面电极型大功率SiC光导开关,用强度为150 J/mm2、波长为355 nm的脉冲激光对开关进行触发,在1~14 kV的外加电压范围内对光导开关的耐压特性、导通电阻等性能进行了研究。结果表明：随着开关外加电压的升高,开关的电流峰值呈现不断增大的趋势,当开关外加电压为14 kV时,电流峰值达185 A,对应的光导开关峰值功率为2.59 MW,开关的导通电阻约为22 。     

Development of a semi-autonomous directional and spectroscopic radiation detection mobile platform

This paper presents a method for a small, inexpensive mobile robot equipped with a single high resolution scintillation detector to quickly survey an area and convey information about local sources of gamma radiation to a remote human operator. This is achieved by surrounding the detector with a lead sheath that blocks all gamma-rays except those incident along the detector's axial direction. A 180° horizontal scan is performed by rotating the detector and a directional profile of gamma radiation is constructed. In addition, a 180° visual panorama of the local area is assembled using a camera mounted on the detector. A plot of the detector count rate versus angle is then overlaid on top of the visual panorama and visible peaks clearly indicate the direction of local gamma radiation sources. Measuring the energy spectrum of gamma-rays in each direction produces a 2D count frequency histogram where distinct peaks indicate the energy and direction of local gamma-ray sources allowing the identification of different radio-isotopes. The mobile robot can use the peaks as goal directions and autonomously move towards gamma-ray sources.     

Additive-free controllable fabrication of bismuth vanadates and their photocatalytic activity toward dye degradation

Bismuth vanadates (BiVO₄) with various crystal structures (tetragonal scheelite, monoclinic scheelite, and tetragonal zircon) and morphologies (sphere-, nanosheet-, dendrite-, and flower-like) were controllably fabricated by using a mild additive-free hydrothermal treatment process under the different preparation conditions. The crystal structures, morphologies, and photophysical properties of the products were well-characterized. Subsequently, their UV- as well as visible-light photocatalytic performance was evaluated via dyes rhodamine B (RB) and methylene blue (MB) degradation. Special attention was paid to evaluate the correlation of the reactivity with crystal structure, morphology, and electronic structure of as-prepared BiVO₄ samples.     

Features of hopping conductivity in weakly doped and weakly compensated semiconductor quantum wells

Main features of hopping transport in quantum wells in the conditions of low doping and low compensation are considered. Based on the features of the classical law of interaction between the impurities and on the percolation problem in quantized wells, it is shown that the specific resistance and activation energy of donor centers of the well are determined by the doping parameters and sharply depend on the width of the well.     

Characteristics of electrodeposited bismuth telluride thin films with different crystal growth by adjusting electrolyte temperature and concentration

Bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) thin films were prepared with various electrolyte temperatures (10°C–70 °C) and concentrations [Bi(NO₃)₃ and TeO₂: 1.25–5.0 mM] in this study. The surface morphologies differed significantly between the experiments in which these two electrodeposition conditions were separately adjusted even though the applied current density was in the same range in both cases. At higher electrolyte temperatures, a dendrite crystal structure appeared on the film surface. However, the surface morphology did not change significantly as the electrolyte concentration increased. The dendrite crystal structure formation in the former case may have been caused by the diffusion lengths of the ions increasing with increasing electrolyte temperature. In such a state, the reactive points primarily occur at the tops of spiked areas, leading to dendrite crystal structure formation. In addition, the in-plane thermoelectric properties of Bi₂Te₃ thin films were measured at approximately 300 K. The power factor decreased drastically as the electrolyte temperature increased because of the decrease in electrical conductivity due to the dendrite crystal structure. However, the power factor did not strongly depend on the electrolyte concentration. The highest power factor [1.08 μW/(cm·K²)] was obtained at 3.75 mM. Therefore, to produce electrodeposited Bi₂Te₃ films with improved thermoelectric performances and relatively high deposition rates, the electrolyte temperature should be relatively low (30 °C) and the electrolyte concentration should be set at 3.75 mM.     

Development and testing of novel stripixel detectors for the silicon vertex tracker at PHENIX

As a part of the upgrades for the PHENIX detector at RHIC,a silicon vertex tracking detector is planned. This detector will consist of two pixel layers followed by two strip-pixel layers in the barrel region,an d four mini-strip layers in the endcap region. As a part of the development phase of the vertex detector, we have set up three sensor testing facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory, at State University of New York, Stonybrook, and at University of New Mexico to characterize the preproduction sensors, and develop our testing and quality assurance plans. Preliminary results from these test are presented here. Presented in the Poster Session “Future Experiments and Facilities” at the 18th International Conference “Quark Matter 2005”, Budapest, Hungary, 4–9 August 2005.     

具有光栅输出镜的高功率半导体激光器输出性能模拟分析

高功率半导体激光器(LD)是广泛应用于固体激光泵浦、材料加工等方面的重要器件。数值模拟了一种自行设计的光栅输出镜结构的高功率半导体激光器的输出特性,分析了具有光栅输出镜的LD波长随温度的变化情况,以及光栅输出镜对输出功率的影响。     

Comparison of two position sensitive gamma-ray detectors based on continuous YAP and pixellated NaI(TI) for nuclear medical imaging applications

Dedicated position sensitive gamma-ray detectors based on position sensitive photomultiplier tubes (PSPMTs) coupled to scintillation crystals, have been used for the construction of compact gamma-ray imaging systems, suitable for nuclear medical imaging applications such as small animal imaging and single organ imaging and scintimammography. In this work, the performance of two gamma-ray detectors: a continuous YAP scintillation crystal coupled to a Hamamastu R2486 PSPMT and a pixellated NaI(TI) scintillation array crystal coupled to the same PSPMT, is compared. The results show that the gamma-ray detector based on a pixellated NaI(TI) scintillation array crystal is a promising candidate for nuclear medical imaging applications,since their performance in terms of position linearity, spatial resolution and effective field of view (FOV) is superior than that of the gamma-ray detector based on a continuous YAP scintillation crystal. However, a better photodetector (Hamamatau H8500 Flat Panel PMT, for example) coupled to the continuous crystal is also likely a good selection for nuclear medicine imaging applications.