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6CCVD Research

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) as a radiation detector distinguishing neutrons and gammas

At a Glance

Section titled ā€œAt a Glanceā€
MetadataDetails
Publication Date2025-04-01
JournalAPL Materials
AuthorsD. J. Valdes, L. RendĆ³n, J. Winkelbauer, P. Koehler, Sven C. Vogel
InstitutionsUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Citations2

Abstract

Section titled ā€œAbstractā€

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a promising ultrawide bandgap semiconductor for radiation detection with the potential of integrating electronic and scintillation functions within a single crystal device. This study establishes the scintillation response of Ī²-Ga2O3 gamma irradiation from yttrium-88 (88Y). Then, californium-252 (252Cf) is used as a spontaneous fission source of mixed neutron and gamma radiation field to measure scintillation signals. Pulse shape discrimination and constant fraction discrimination techniques were used to separate neutron and gamma interaction events. Further investigation indicates that the prompt temporal responses of Ī²-Ga2O3 for gammas and neutrons may enable discrimination of the two by prompt pulse fitting methods, focused around the initial peak. For gamma irradiation, we observed a rise time (Ļ„r) of 2.1 ns, decay time (Ļ„d) of 9.5 ns, and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 6.2 ns. For neutrons, it showed a Ļ„r of 2.3 ns, a Ļ„d of 12.1 ns, 9.4 ns FWHM, and reduced peak intensity. A diamond detector exhibited a more symmetrical Ļ„r and Ļ„d for both gamma and neutron signals and therefore is less effective at discriminating between the two by this method. This draws attention to Ī²-Ga2O3ā€™s ability to distinguish neutron and gamma particles. These findings showcase Ga2O3ā€™s potential as a next-generation semiconductor for applications in nuclear safety and medical imaging, where precise discrimination between neutron and gamma interactions is essential.

Tech Support

Section titled ā€œTech Supportā€

Original Source

Section titled ā€œOriginal Sourceā€

References

Section titled ā€œReferencesā€
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  3. 2014 - Neutron source reconstruction from pinhole imaging at National Ignition Facility [Crossref]
  4. 2012 - Multi-shot analysis of the gamma reaction history diagnostic [Crossref]
  5. 2012 - Neutron spectrometryā€”An essential tool for diagnosing implosions at the National Ignition Facility (invited) [Crossref]
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  10. **** - Fast neutron scintillation from Ga2O3 crystals for radiation detection

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