Natural Boron and B-10-Enriched Hexagonal Boron Nitride for High-Sensitivity Self-Biased Metal-Semiconductor-Metal Neutron Detectors

Metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) detectors based on Ti/Au and Ni/Au interdigitated structures were fabricated using 2.5 micrometer thick hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) layer with both natural and B-10-enriched boron. Current-voltage (I-V) and current-time (I-t) curves of the fabricated detectors were recorded with (I-N) and without (I-d) neutron irradiation, allowing the determination of their sensitivity (S = (I-N - I-d)/I-d = Delta I/I-d). Natural and B-10-enriched h-BN detectors exhibited high neutron sensitivities of 233 and 367% at 0 V bias under a flux of 3 x 10(4) n/cm(2)/s, respectively. An imbalance in the distribution of filled traps between the two electric contacts could explain the self-biased operation of the MSM detectors. Neutron sensitivity is further enhanced with electrical biasing, reaching 316 and 1192% at 200 V and a flux of 3 x 10(4) n/cm(2)/s for natural and B-10-enriched h-BN detectors, respectively, with dark current as low as 2.5 pA at 200 V. The increased performance under bias has been attributed to a gain mechanism based on neutron-induced charge carrier trapping at the semiconductor/metal interface. The response of the MSM detectors under thermal neutron flux and bias voltages was linear. These results clearly indicate that the thin-film monocrystal BN MSM neutron detectors can be optimized to operate sensitively with the absence of external bias and generate stronger signal detection using B-10-enriched boron.