The performance of a high-resistance semiconductor detector based on h-¹⁰ BN with thermal neutron detection capability

Research on the semiconductors available for thermal neutron detection is of great significance for the development of thermal neutron detection technology and alleviating the dependence on rare³ He resources. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-¹⁰ BN) materials have attracted wide attention in the thermal neutron detection field because of their higher¹⁰ B content and unique two-dimensional layered lattice structure. Based on the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method, a 70 μ m h-¹⁰ BN semiconductor detector was fabricated and experimentally studied. The product of the carrier mobility and lifetime (μτ ) of the semiconductor was 1.62 × 10^{- 7}cm² /V. The time response of the detector was less than 12 ns, and the charge collection efficiency (CCE) was more than 90%. The effects on detection performance of the electric field distribution were studied. At 700 V, the maximum depth at which charges were able to be collected was approximately 50 μ m . The energy spectrum of the h-¹⁰ BN to thermal neutrons was observed with distinct peaks. The results indicate that h-¹⁰ BN has great potential in thermal neutron detection due to its high reaction section, compact volume and short trapping distance.