The ZGSL detector team has successfully prepared high-performance large-area boron carbide thin film samples that meet the requirements of neutron detectors using a self-developed magnetron sputtering large-area boron plating special device, with a single chip area of up to 1500 millimeters × 500mm, with a film thickness of 1 micrometer, and a thickness uniformity of better than ± 1.32% across the entire size range, it is currently the largest area of boron carbide film used for neutron detection internationally.
The neutron detector based on boron conversion has become a hot research topic internationally due to its excellent performance. With the upcoming launch of the second phase project, the proposed neutron spectrometer urgently needs new neutron detectors with large area, high efficiency, and position sensitivity.
How to prepare high-performance neutron conversion boron carbide thin films is the most core technology among them, and currently only a few developed countries such as the United States and Europe have mastered this technology.
In 2016, with the support of the State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Detection and Nuclear Electronics, the detector team, in cooperation with Professor Zhu Jingtao of Tongji University, began to develop a special device for magnetron sputtering boron plating in a large area, with a coating thickness range of 0.01-5 microns. It also supports single and double side coating, radio frequency and DC coating.
In June 2021, the device passed acceptance and was put into use.
It is understood that after years of technical research and process trial production, the team has prepared various specifications of boron carbide thin films using this device and successfully applied them to ceramic GEM neutron detectors on multiple neutron spectrometers, achieving the localization of key neutron detector technologies and devices, providing strong technical support for the development of larger high-performance new neutron detectors in the future.