Subproject for Chalcogenide semiconductors for g-ray detection from earth abundant elements

  • Wessels, Bruce W (Subproject PI)

Project: Research project

Project Details

Description

Nuclear detection for the purposes of homeland security requires high sensitivity and resolution, to allow the detection of distant, shielded, or weak nuclear radiation sources. The most important type of radiation emitted from fissile materials is γ-rays of a wide variety of energies. The ideal detection material for nuclear applications would convert the energy of incident radiation quanta into an optical or electrical signal, which must accurately reflect information about the incident radiation. The two primary categories of γ-radiation detection media are scintillators and semiconductors. For both types, the radiation detection process begins with the absorption of photons and the creation of primary energetic charged particles. The proposed project investigates novel semiconductor chalcogenide materials for the detection of γ radiation at room temperature, but with strong emphasis on low cost. The program is integrated across several disciplines and spans materials synthesis, purification, crystal growth, electrical characterization, theory and detector fabrication.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date10/1/149/30/19

Funding

  • Department of Homeland Security (2014-DN-077-ARI086-02)

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