Growth and Characterization of LiInSe2 Crystal for Neutron Detection

Author of the article:ZHANG Zheren1 , ZHU Menghua1,2, XU Yadong1,2

Author's Workplace：1. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China; 2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China

Key Words：thermal neutron detector; LiInSe2; crystal growth; α response

Abstract：LiInSe2 crystals are a new type of semiconductor neutron detection material that can detect thermal neutrons at room temperature. In this paper, we synthesized a large number of high purity LiInSe2 polycrystals by a low temperature synthesis method, and obtained high quality red LiInSe2 crystals by improving the growth process. The growth quality of the crystal was characterized by studying the transmittance and inclusion equality of the crystal, and the possibility of neutron detection was also studied by testing the response of the crystal to α particles. The results show that the infrared transmittance of the crystal is 75%, the width of the band gap is 2.3 eV, the density of the inclusion phase is 2 900/cm2 , and the size of the inclusion phase is approximately 1~10 μm. The measured resistivity is approximately 5×1011 Á cm, and the energy resolution for α particles is 55%.