Efficiencies of coated and perforated semiconductor neutron detectors

Previous experimental results indicated that boron-filled perforations within a semiconductor diode detector increase the thermal neutron detection efficiency. In the present work, two basic perforation designs, circular holes and parallel trenches, are analyzed using a Monte Carlo approach for use as high-efficiency thermal neutron detectors. The modeling results indicate that thermal-neutron intrinsic detection efficiencies exceeding 25% can be realized for single coated devices, and efficiencies exceeding 50% can be realized for doubled or "sandwiched" devices.