Sub-ps Pulsed Laser Deposition of Boron Films for Neutron Detector Applications

De Giorgi, Maria Luisa; Aziz, Muhammad Rizwan; Manousaki, Alexandra; Perrone, Alessio; Klini, Argyro

doi:10.3390/ma16041512

Open AccessArticle

Sub-ps Pulsed Laser Deposition of Boron Films for Neutron Detector Applications

by

Maria Luisa De Giorgi

^1,2,*

,

Muhammad Rizwan Aziz

¹

,

Alexandra Manousaki

³,

Alessio Perrone

^1,2 and

Argyro Klini

³

¹

Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica “E. De Giorgi”, Università del Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy

²

INFN-Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, 73100 Lecce, Italy

³

Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), 71110 Heraklion, Greece

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Materials 2023, 16(4), 1512; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041512

Submission received: 30 December 2022 / Revised: 31 January 2023 / Accepted: 7 February 2023 / Published: 11 February 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Materials Light Life)

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Abstract

In view of the demand for high-quality thermal neutron detectors, boron films have recently attracted widespread research interest because of their special properties. In this work, we report on the deposition of boron films on silicon substrates by sub-picosecond pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at room temperature. Particular emphasis was placed on the investigation of the effect of the laser energy density (fluence) on the ablation process of the target material, as well as on the morphological properties of the resulting films. In addition, based on the study of the ablation and deposition rates as a function of the fluence, the ablation/deposition mechanisms are discussed. We show that well-adherent and stable boron films, with good quality surfaces revealing a good surface flatness and absence of cracks, can be obtained by means of the PLD technique, which proves to be a reliable and reproducible method for the fabrication of thick boron coatings that are suitable for neutron detection technology.

Keywords: sub-ps pulsed laser deposition; boron thin films; neutron converters; thermal neutrons; average ablation rate; average ablation efficiency

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MDPI and ACS Style

De Giorgi, M.L.; Aziz, M.R.; Manousaki, A.; Perrone, A.; Klini, A. Sub-ps Pulsed Laser Deposition of Boron Films for Neutron Detector Applications. Materials 2023, 16, 1512. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041512

AMA Style

De Giorgi ML, Aziz MR, Manousaki A, Perrone A, Klini A. Sub-ps Pulsed Laser Deposition of Boron Films for Neutron Detector Applications. Materials. 2023; 16(4):1512. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041512

Chicago/Turabian Style

De Giorgi, Maria Luisa, Muhammad Rizwan Aziz, Alexandra Manousaki, Alessio Perrone, and Argyro Klini. 2023. "Sub-ps Pulsed Laser Deposition of Boron Films for Neutron Detector Applications" Materials 16, no. 4: 1512. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041512

APA Style

De Giorgi, M. L., Aziz, M. R., Manousaki, A., Perrone, A., & Klini, A. (2023). Sub-ps Pulsed Laser Deposition of Boron Films for Neutron Detector Applications. Materials, 16(4), 1512. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041512

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Sub-ps Pulsed Laser Deposition of Boron Films for Neutron Detector Applications

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