Room temperature semiconductor detectors for safeguards measurements

Abstract

A summary is given of the principal areas of application where CdTe detectors are presently used by the IAEA in nuclear material safeguards. Hemispheric detectors with a sensitive volume of about 20 mm 3 have their principal application in the verification of irradiated nuclear material. Larger volume hemispheric detectors are used for the verification of unirradiated material. Their availability, however, is still limited. Problems with the commercial supply of detectors and with ruggedizing the design of the miniature detection probes need to be solved. New results which are relevant for future applications are described. It has been shown that hemispheric detectors made of CdZnTe provide a resolution of 3–4% and a peak/Compton ratio larger than two for 137Cs. Large volume planar CdZnTe have been used in conjunction with pulse shape discrimination electronics. The detector efficiency, however, still remains below the values expected from their geometric dimensions. A new technique to achieve single charge collection in large volume CdZnTe detectors has been developed. Planar detectors with PIN structure and Peltier cooling have further improved. However, the problem of long term stability has not been solved yet. Silicon detectors are increasingly used in unattended radiation monitoring systems. They have a proven long term stability and can cover a signal range of 5–6 decades if used with fast pulse counting electronics.