Charged particle detector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10969505-B2
Application number	US-201716471110-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2017
Priority date	Dec 20, 2016
Publication date	Apr 6, 2021
Grant date	Apr 6, 2021

Abstract

A charged particle detector is provided. The charged particle detector includes a flexible semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer being doped to form a p-n junction, and an amplifier coupled to the semiconductor wafer and configured to amplify a current or voltage across the p-n junction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A charged particle detector comprising:
a flexible semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer being doped to form a p-n junction;
an amplifier coupled to the semiconductor wafer and configured to amplify a current or voltage across the p-n junction;
a layer of aluminium on each surface of the flexible semiconductor wafer, each layer of aluminium being of a thickness sufficient to exclude optical photons, and which is transparent to alpha particles;
wherein the amplifier is coupled to the semiconductor wafer via the aluminium layers.

2. The charged particle detector according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible semiconductor wafer is mounted so as to provide a curved alpha particle detection surface.

3. The charged particle detector according to claim 2 , wherein the flexible semiconductor wafer is mounted to a pipe inspection gauge.

4. The charged particle detector according to claim 2 , wherein the flexible semiconductor wafer is mounted on an inner surface of a pipe.

5. The charged particle detector according to claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor wafer is a silicon wafer with a thickness of between 20 and 70 microns.

6. The charged particle detector according to claim 1 , wherein each aluminium layer is 200 nm thick.

7. The charged particle detector according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the aluminium layers is subdivided into a plurality of pixels, each pixel being coupled to a different amplifier.

8. The charged particle detector according to claim 1 , wherein the flexible semiconductor wafer has a minimum radius of curvature less than 10 cm.

9. A neutron detector comprising a charged particle detector according to claim 1 , and a material which produces charged particles when exposed to neutron flux.

10. The neutron detector according to claim 9 , wherein the charged particles are alpha particles and the substance comprises boron-10.

11. The neutron detector according to claim 10 , wherein the material is boron oxide, the flexible semiconductor wafer comprises two flexible semiconductor sheets of different doping types, and the boron oxide is provided as an intrinsic region between the two flexible silicon sheets.

12. A pipe having a neutron detector according to claim 9 lining the outside of the pipe.

13. A pipe having a charged particle detector according to claim 1 lining the inside of the pipe.

Assignees

• Univ York

Inventors

• Jenkins David
• Krauss Thomas
• Schuster Christian

Classifications

• H10F77/1698

  the metallic or insulating substrates being flexible · CPC title

• H10F77/953

  for devices having potential barriers · CPC title

• H10F77/334

  for shielding light, e.g. light blocking layers or cold shields for infrared detectors · CPC title

• H10F39/107

  having multiple elements covered by H10F30/00 in a repetitive configuration, e.g. radiation detectors comprising photodiode arrays · CPC title

• H10F30/2955

  Shallow PN junction radiation detectors · CPC title