Design of an irradiation rig using screen method for silicon transmutation doping at the Dalat research reactor

Abstract

The neutron transmutation doping of silicon (NTD-Si) at research reactors has beensuccessfully implemented in many countries to produce high-quality semiconductors. In the late 1980s, NTD-Si has been tested at the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR) but the results have been limited. Therefore, the design and testing of an irradiation rig for NTD-Si at the DNRR are necessary to have a better understanding in order to apply the NTD-Si in a new research reactor of the Research Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology (RCNEST), which has planned to be built in Viet Nam. This paper presents the design and testing of a new irradiation rig using screen method for testing NTD-Si at the DNRR. The important parameters in the rig such as neutron spectrum and thermal neutron flux distribution were determined by both calculation using MCNP5 computer code and experiment. The aluminum ingots, which have similar neutronic characteristics with silicon ingots, were irradiated in the rig to verify the appropriate design. The uniformity of thermal neutron flux in the rig is less than 5% in axial and 2% in radial directions, respectively. However, the thermal/fast flux ratio of the irradiation rig is 4.38/1 would affect target resistivity of testing Silicon ingots after irradiation.