Solid-State Neutron Detection Applications
Neutron detector applications include those for homeland security (e.g., border screening), fundamental research (e.g., at neutron scattering beamlines), and industrial monitoring (e.g., personnel monitoring, water content in soil). Solid-state neutron detectors provide an alternative to the 3He-based detectors, maintaining a high thermal-neutron detection efficiency, at a fraction of the volume, mass, voltage, and power required from gas or liquid detectors.
The RDT Domino®
A strong demand for thin form-factor neutron detectors with the flexibility to adjust available detection area has driven RDT to offer the end-to-end pluggable Domino® with 4-cm2 detection area, 20% to 30% thermal-neutron efficiency, less than 0.3-mW power consumption, and digital output per module. The digital outputs of the Domino® may also be tied together in the tiled format.
MSND® Technology
The detector utilizes microstructured semiconductor neutron detector (MSND®) technology‡ with 6Li conversion to yield an adjustable thermal-neutron detection efficiency of up to 30%. Optimum HDPE moderator for 252Cf neutron source at 1-m is 3-4 cm in front and 3-6 cm behind the MSND® sensor.
Electronics & Interfacing
The onboard electronics package includes a preamplifier, shaping-amplifier, discriminator, analog-to-digital converter, temperature sensor, and voltage regulator.
Specifications
Detector Area: 4 cm2 Εthermal : 30(±1)%@ 20°C εCf-252: 0.04%(no mod) εCf-252: ~0.1%(1in.3 mod) Icont: 290 μA Rad Vinput: 2.9-5.5 V Voutput: 2.7 V Pulse width: 5-50 μs | γ-reject: 1:107 Mass: 9.5 grams Pileup limit: <33 kcps Rad Hard: <1010 Rads/s Stackable: yes Tileable: yes, 1-D Built in Temperature Sensor Sensitivity to Ambient Light : No | Temp. Range: -40°C to 55°C Connector: Samtec (2mm Center) TMM-110-01-L-S-RA-007 (male) SQT-110-01-L-S-RA-007 (socket) |
Electronic Specifications
If provided power is particularly noisy, decouple the power to local ground as close as possible to the connectors (ceramic in parallel with a tantalum is always best and a series bead never hurts). Be sure to use all ground pins (tie to a plane if possible). Do not tie anything to the "Do not connect" pins. Some are used for internal diagnostics during the test process and connections may cause device failure.
Pin # | Domino® V5.4 | |
J1 MAIN CONNECTOR (Samtec TMM-110-01-L-S-RA-007) | J2 CASCADE CONNECTOR (Samtec SQT-110-01-L-S-RA-007) | |
1 | DO NOT CONNECT | DO NOT CONNECT |
2 | GROUND | GROUND |
3 | GROUND | GROUND |
4 | +VDC INPUT (+2.9 VDC MIN. +5.5 VDC MAX) | +VDC CASCADE OUT |
5 | +VDC INPUT (+2.9 VDC MIN. +5.5 VDC MAX) | +VDC CASCADE OUT |
6 | SDA (+2.7 VDC) | DO NOT CONNECT |
7 | POLARITY KEY (CLIPPED PIN) | POLARITY KEY (PLUGGED SOCKET) |
8 | SCL (+2.7 VDC) | DO NOT CONNECT |
9 | PULSE OUT (DRIVEN - LV CMOS +2.7 VDC) | DO NOT CONNECT |
10 | PULSE OUT (CASCADE - OPEN DRAIN W/O INTERNAL PULL-UP) | PULSE IN CASCADE |
Accessories
USB Driver Board: A great way to quickly test the Domino® detector in your lab. Connection and power is made via a standard USB Micro AB connection and interface software is provided to collect counts for a specified time period.
Panel Array Readout Motherboard:
Another way to panelize the Dominos® into an array. Individual Domino® strings can be readout individually or as a single unit.
Model | Detector Type | Gamma-ray | Neutron | Measured Cf-252 Response | Power Req.(mW) |
D411S-20-D0025-V5.4 | Semiconductor based detector w/ MSND® Technology | < 1-cpm at 75 mR/h with a Cs-137 Source; has increased gamma-ray rejection | 0.8 cps/nv ± 0.04 cps/nv | 0.475 cps | 0.3-mW at 3V |
D411S-30-D0025-V5.4 | Semiconductor based detector w/ MSND® Technology | < 1-cpm at 50 mR/h with a Cs-137 Source | 1.2 cps/nv ± 0.04 cps/nv | 0.729 cps | 0.3-mW at |
Two (2) Tiled | Semiconductor based detector w/ MSND® Technology | < 1-cpm at 50 mR/h with a Cs-137 Source | 2.4 cps/nv ± 0.08 cps/nv | 1.417 cps | 0.6-mW at |
D411S-40-D0025-V5.4 | Semiconductor based detector w/ MSND® Technology | < 1-cpm at 50 mR/h with a Cs-137 Source | 1.6 cps/nv ± 0.04 cps/nv | N/A | 0.3-mW at |
He-3 Neutron Detector | He-3 Gas-Filled Detector at 10-atm | Not Reported. | Reported as: 5.2 cps/nv | 3.175 cps | N/A, |