4H-SiC Schottky Barrier Diodes for Efficient Thermal Neutron Detection

Materials (Basel). 2021 Sep 6;14(17):5105. doi: 10.3390/ma14175105.

Abstract

In this work, we present the improved efficiency of 4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes-based detectors equipped with the thermal neutron converters. This is achieved by optimizing the thermal neutron converter thicknesses. Simulations of the optimal thickness of thermal neutron converters have been performed using two Monte Carlo codes (Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code and Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter). We have used 6LiF and 10B4C for the thermal neutron converter material. We have achieved the thermal neutron efficiency of 4.67% and 2.24% with 6LiF and 10B4C thermal neutron converters, respectively.

Keywords: neutron radiation; nuclear reactor; radiation detector; silicon carbide.