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10B-based films grown by pulsed laser deposition for neutron conversion applications

  • S.I.: Current State-Of-The-Art in Laser Ablation
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Abstract

Solid-state neutron detectors exploit nuclear interactions producing energetic charged particles within a converter layer embedding nuclei with high neutron capture cross section and with thickness compatible with the charged particle range. Recently, boron-10 (10B) is being considered as a valid alternative to the expensive and decreasingly available 3He gas thanks to its large neutron absorption cross section and high-energy reaction products. Minimized amounts of impurities, films with optimal and well-controlled thickness, good uniformity over large areas and good adhesion to the substrates are essential to achieve efficient neutron detection performance. In this study, we present well-adherent 1-µm-thick 10B-enriched boron coatings, deposited over a large area by off-axis pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using a nanosecond Nd-YAG laser beam operating at 1064 nm and high fluence (~ 10 J/cm2), onto 1-mm-thick Al substrate as well as smooth and rough C substrates. By combining plasma plume divergence and peaked profile under off-axis deposition geometry, uniform10B films were obtained over an area of a 3.4 × 3.4 cm2. We discuss the morphological characteristics of our deposits as related to the mechanisms of nanosecond laser ablation and present energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) elemental analysis of the film, paying attention to the different surface features. Negligible presence of O, N and C contaminants was achieved by controlled vacuum conditions. Moreover, we present encouraging neutron detection performances of our film deposited onto Al.

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Acknowledgements

The research activities leading to this work were supported by the National Institute of Nuclear Physics – INFN (BOLAS project).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Physics “Ennio De Giorgi”, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Maura Cesaria, Antonella Lorusso, Anna Paola Caricato, Maurizio Martino, Muhammad Rizwan Aziz & Alessio Perrone

  2. National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Lecce, Italy

    Antonella Lorusso, Anna Paola Caricato, Maurizio Martino, Lucio Calcagnile, Alessio Perrone & Gianluca Quarta

  3. National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) - Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy

    Paolo Finocchiaro & Simone Amaducci

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

    Simone Amaducci

  5. Centre of Applied Physics, Dating and Diagnostics (CEDAD), Department of Mathematics and Physics “Ennio De Giorgi”, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Lucio Calcagnile & Gianluca Quarta

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  1. Maura Cesaria
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Correspondence to Anna Paola Caricato.

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Cesaria, M., Lorusso, A., Caricato, A.P. et al. 10B-based films grown by pulsed laser deposition for neutron conversion applications. Appl. Phys. A 126, 404 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-020-03538-x

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