BiI₃ Crystals for High Energy Resolution Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy

Technical Report · Wed Apr 12 00:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1352061· OSTI ID:1352061

Nino, Juan C. ^[1]; Baciak, James ^[1]; Johns, Paul ^[1]; Sulekar, Soumitra ^[1]; Totten, James ^[1]; Nimmagadda, Jyothir ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

BiI₃ had been investigated for its unique properties as a layered compound semiconductor for many decades. However, despite the exceptional atomic, physical, and electronic properties of this material, good resolution gamma ray spectra had never been reported for BiI₃. The shortcomings that previously prevented BiI₃ from reaching success as a gamma ray sensor were, through this project, identified and suppressed to unlock the performance of this promising compound. Included in this work were studies on a number of methods which have, for the first time, enabled BiI₃ to exhibit spectral performance rivaling many other candidate semiconductors for room temperature gamma ray sensors. New approaches to crystal growth were explored that allow BiI₃ spectrometers to be fabricated with up to 2.2% spectral resolution at 662 keV. Fundamental studies on trap states, dopant incorporation, and polarization were performed to enhance performance of this compound. Additionally, advanced detection techniques were applied to display the capabilities of high quality BiI₃ spectrometers. Overall, through this work, BiI₃ has been revealed as a potentially transformative material for nuclear security and radiation detection sciences.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• DOE Contract Number: NE0000730
• OSTI ID: 1352061
• Report Number(s): 13-4855; 13-4855
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY