Neutron detection using boron gallium nitride semiconductor material

Metal-semiconductor-metal neutron detectors based on hexagonal boron nitride epitaxial layers

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) possesses extraordinary potential for solid-state neutron detector applications. This stems from the fact that the boron-10 (B) isotope has a capture cross-section of 3840 barns for thermal neutrons that is orders of magnitude larger than other isotopes. Epitaxial layers of hBN have been synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Experimental m...

Boron nitride: A new photonic material

Rhombohedral Boron Nitride (r-BN) layers were grown on sapphire substrate in a hot-wall chemical vapor deposition reactor. Characterization of these layers is reported in details. Xray diffraction (XRD) is used as a routine characterization tool to investigate the crystalline quality of the films and the identification of the phases is revealed using detailed pole figure measurements. Transmiss...

Identification of Transport Parameters for Gallium Nitride Based Semiconductor Devices

We present a methodology for the identification of transport parameters for Gallium Nitride (GaN) based semiconductor materials and devices. A Monte Carlo (MC) approach has been employed to investigate the electron transport in GaN and AlGaN, materials that are very important in device applications of high-power, high-frequency electronics. Our model is validated against measured data and compa...

Neutron irradiation effects on metal-gallium nitride contacts

Gallium nitride micromechanical resonators for IR detection

This paper reports on a novel technology for low-noise un-cooled detection of infrared (IR) radiation using a combination of piezoelectric, pyroelectric, electrostrictive, and resonant effects. The architecture consists of a parallel array of high-Q gallium nitride (GaN) micro-mechanical resonators coated with an IR absorbing nanocomposite. The nanocomposite absorber converts the IR energy into...