206 research outputs found
Cryogenic scintillation properties of n-type GaAs for the direct detection of MeV/c2 dark matter
This paper is the first report of n-type GaAs as a cryogenic scintillation radiation detector for the detection of electron recoils from interacting dark matter (DM) particles in the poorly explored MeV/c2 mass range. Seven GaAs samples from two commercial suppliers and with different silicon and boron concentrations were studied for their low temperature optical and scintillation properties. All samples are n-type even at low temperatures and exhibit emission between silicon donors and boron acceptors that peaks at 1.33 eV (930 nm). The lowest excitation band peaks at 1.44 eV (860 nm), and the overlap between the emission and excitation bands is small. The X-ray excited luminosities range from 7 to 43 photons/keV. Thermally stimulated luminescence measurements show that n-type GaAs does not accumulate metastable radiative states that could cause afterglow. Further development and use with cryogenic photodetectors promises a remarkable combination of large target size, ultra-low backgrounds, and a sensitivity to electron recoils of a few eV that would be produced by DM particles as light as a few MeV/c2
Semiconductor High-Energy Radiation Scintillation Detector
We propose a new scintillation-type detector in which high-energy radiation
produces electron-hole pairs in a direct-gap semiconductor material that
subsequently recombine producing infrared light to be registered by a
photo-detector. The key issue is how to make the semiconductor essentially
transparent to its own infrared light, so that photons generated deep inside
the semiconductor could reach its surface without tangible attenuation. We
discuss two ways to accomplish this, one based on doping the semiconductor with
shallow impurities of one polarity type, preferably donors, the other by
heterostructure bandgap engineering. The proposed semiconductor scintillator
combines the best properties of currently existing radiation detectors and can
be used for both simple radiation monitoring, like a Geiger counter, and for
high-resolution spectrography of the high-energy radiation. The most important
advantage of the proposed detector is its fast response time, about 1 ns,
essentially limited only by the recombination time of minority carriers.
Notably, the fast response comes without any degradation in brightness. When
the scintillator is implemented in a qualified semiconductor material (such as
InP or GaAs), the photo-detector and associated circuits can be epitaxially
integrated on the scintillator slab and the structure can be stacked-up to
achieve virtually any desired absorption capability
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Development of ZnO:Ga as an Ultrafast Scintillator
We report on several methods for synthesizing the ultra-fast scintillator ZnO(Ga), and measurements of the resulting products. This material has characteristics that make it an excellent alpha detector for tagging the time and direction of individual neutrons produced by t-d and d-d neutron generators (associated particle imaging). The intensity and decay time are strongly dependent on the method used for dopant incorporation. We compare samples made by diffusion of Ga metal to samples made by solid state reaction between ZnO and Ga2O3 followed by reduction in hydrogen. The latter is much more successful and has a pure, strong near-band-edge fluorescence and an ultra-fast decay time of the x-ray-excited luminescence. The luminescence increases dramatically as the temperature is reduced to 10K. We also present results of an alternate low-temperature synthesis that produces luminescent particles with a more uniform size distribution. We examine possible mechanisms for the bright near-band-edge scintillation and favor the explanation that it is due to the recombination of Ga3+ donor electrons with ionization holes trapped on H+ ion acceptors
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ELECTRON AVALANCHE IN LIQUID XENON
We present detailed measurements of the electron avalanche process in liquid Xenon. The measurements were made by using liquid-Xe-filled proportional chambers with anode diameters of 2.9, 3.5, and 5.0 {approx} to detect 279-keV y rays and measure the photopeak pulse height as a function of applied voltage. The use of uniform pulses of electrons enabled us to discriminate against secondary Townsend processes. We present a table of the first Townsend coefficient a as a function of electric field E; a typical value is {alpha} = (4.5 {+-} 0.3) x 10{sup 4} cm{sup -1} at E = 2 x 10{sup 6} V/cm. The electron avalanche occurs in liquid Xe at electric fields 26 times smaller than would be predicted using measurements made in gaseous Xe and E/{rho} density scaling
The quest for the ideal inorganic scintillator,"
Abstract The past half century has witnessed the discovery of many new inorganic scintillator materials and numerous advances in our understanding of the basic physical processes governing the transformation of ionizing radiation into scintillation light. Whereas scintillators are available with a good combination of physical properties, none provides the desired combination of stopping power, light output, and decay time. A review of the numerous scintillation mechanisms of known inorganic scintillators reveals why none of them is both bright and fast. The mechanisms of radiative recombination in wide-bandgap direct semiconductors, however, remain relatively unexploited for scintillators. We describe how suitably doped semiconductor scintillators could provide a combination of high light output, short decay time, and linearity of response that approach fundamental limits
First-principles calculations of the self-trapped exciton in crystalline NaCl
The atomic and electronic structure of the lowest triplet state of the
off-center (C2v symmetry) self-trapped exciton (STE) in crystalline NaCl is
calculated using the local-spin-density (LSDA) approximation. In addition, the
Franck-Condon broadening of the luminescence peak and the a1g -> b3u absorption
peak are calculated and compared to experiment. LSDA accurately predicts
transition energies if the initial and final states are both localized or
delocalized, but 1 eV discrepancies with experiment occur if one state is
localized and the other is delocalized.Comment: 4 pages with 4 embeddded figure
GaAs as a Bright Cryogenic Scintillator for the Detection of Low-Energy Electron Recoils From MeV/c 2 Dark Matter
This article presents the measurements of the luminescence and scintillation under X-ray of undoped, Si-doped, and Si, B codoped gallium-arsenide (GaAs) samples at cryogenic temperature over a wide infrared (IR) region using Si and InGaAs photodetectors. The undoped GaAs has a narrow emission band at 838 nm (1.48 eV) and a low light output of about 2 ph/keV. The GaAs:Si has three broad luminescence bands at 830 nm (1.49 eV), 1070 nm (1.16 eV), and 1335 nm (0.93 eV) and a light output of about 67 ph/keV. GaAs:(Si, B) has four luminescence bands at 860 nm (1.44 eV), 930 nm (1.33 eV), 1070 nm (1.16 eV), and 1335 nm (0.93 eV) with a light yield of approximately 119 ph/keV. With advances in photodetection, GaAs promises to be a useful cryogenic scintillator for the detection of electron recoils from MeV/c2 dark matter
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