Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

Fuji Electric Corporate Research & Development Co., Ltd.

Osamu Ishiwata

Noritada Sato

Toshikazu Suzuki

Yasukazu Seki

A semiconductor-based radiation-detector element particularly adapted to neutron detection, and the method for making the same, in which a high sensitivity single-crystal semiconductor substrate has diffused therein at-least-one region of .sup.3 He gas, which remain resident therein, whereby, upon application of an inverse bias to the junction in the semiconductor substrate, the colliding of incident neutrons with the resident .sup.3 He gas results in a reaction which produces hole-electron pairs in the depletion layer within the semiconductor, those hole-electron pairs producing output electrical pulses which appear at the output terminals of the detector for utilization by detection and measuring apparatus connected to the semiconductor-based radiation-detector element.

Semiconductor-based radiation-detector element

A semiconductor-based radiation-detector element particularly adapted to neutron detection, and the method for making the same, in which a high sensitivity single-crystal semiconductor substrate has diffused therein at-least-one region of .sup.3 He gas, which remains resident therein, whereby, upon application of an inverse bias to the junction in the semiconductor substrate, the colliding of incident neutrons with the resident .sup.3 He gas results in a reaction which produces hole-electron pairs in the depletion layer within the semiconductor, those hole-electron pairs producing output electrical pulses which appear at the output terminals of the detector for utilization by detection and measuring apparatus connected to the semiconductor-based radiation-detector element.

In the representative embodiment of the invention described in the specification, a boron coating is applied to a semiconductor body having a protective film of a compound of the semiconductor material by heating the semiconductor body to a temperature below 400.degree. C. in a vacuum chamber, introducing diborane gas into the chamber and causing a glow discharge between two electrodes in the chamber.

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Kawasaki, Japan

Osamu Ishiwata