Study on 4H-SiC Trench Schottky-Type Neutron Detector

In this article, a trench Schottky barrier diode (SBD) structure based on a wide bandgap, high temperature, and irradiation resistant 4H-SiC material is innovatively proposed, and the neutron conversion material (LiF)-Li-6 is filled into the trench array to make a neutron detector. The detector increases both the amount of (LiF)-Li-6 filling and the total contact area between (LiF)-Li-6 and the semiconductor material 4H-SiC by etching out the trenches. The neutron response experimental study revealed that the count rate of the detector is as high as 580 Hz, corresponding to a detection efficiency of 6.57%, which breaks through the limitation that the detection efficiency of thin-film coated-type detectors is less than 5%, which is one of the main contributions of the detector. The utilization of refractory metal tungsten (W) as the frontal Schottky contact electrode enables the detector to maintain a count rate of approximately 100 Hz at 180 degrees C, which indicates that there exists a possibility that the detector can work in high temperature environments, and also provides the experimental basis for the development of high-temperature resistant neutron detectors.