Project Description

Using GaAs epitaxial technology developed jointly by Spire Corporation and Prof. McGregor in the S.M.A.R.T. Laboratory, it was found that certain device structures produced large pulses without the need for a bias voltage. These diodes, when coated with boron, show promise as remotely operated, low power, neutron detectors. Dr. Tzu-Fang Wang at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory became interested in the novel devices and supported research to acquire a multitude of them. Fabricated under rigorously clean conditions, these detectors are manufactured from some of the purest GaAs available, and have shown outstanding radiation hardness. Thus far, the diodes have continued operating even after exposure to 10¹² cm^-2 thermal neutrons.

 Epitaxial GaAs Detectors for Neutron Monitoring, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2003 - present.