1. Field of the Disclosure
The following disclosure is directed to imaging devices, and particularly those imaging devices that include radiation-reactive material layers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional neutron detectors generally include a sealed vessel containing a neutron sensitive gas, such as 3He or BF3, and an electrically charged wire having leads which extend outside of the vessel. In operation, incident neutrons react with the gas to produce charged particles which change the electrical potential of the wire. A measurement system coupled to the charged wire measures the electrical pulses and uses this information to indicate the presence of neutrons. These types of neutrons detectors are undesirably bulky and are associated with poor sensitivity resulting from, for example, electronic noise.
Attempts have been made to produce different neutron detectors using materials such as semiconductors. For example, some devices rely upon diffusion of 3He into a semiconductor substrate to detect neutrons (See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,886) while others use certain other materials. However, these detects have a number of drawbacks, including difficulty in manufacturing.