An investigation into the growth and characterisation of thin film radioluminescent phosphors for neutron diffraction analysis

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Miller, T., 2010. An investigation into the growth and characterisation of thin film radioluminescent phosphors for neutron diffraction analysis. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This investigation studied the growth and characterisation of thin film phosphors to examine the feasibility of enhancing a solid-state neutron scintillation detector system for increased detection resolution and detection rate. Undertaken in collaboration with the neutron facility ISIS at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, it was to examine whether an improved radioluminescent detector could be designed, based on the application of thin film phosphors. Optimisation for the detector was in the areas of increased luminescent emission from each neutron captured, increasing the rate of capture for each measurement and improved spatial resolution. The current ZnS:Ag,Cl phosphor used at ISIS was characterised in terms of its luminescent emission properties and comparisons were made to thin films of potential phosphor materials and the source material used to create the thin films. The phosphors were characterised via photo and radio-luminescent excitation to examine the spectral emission and the luminescent decay properties. Thin films were grown onto a silicon substrate from a ZnS:Ag,Cl phosphor source using RF magnetron sputtering and were characterised in terms of morphology, crystallinity and luminescent properties. Thin films grown using this technique were found to not produce visible emission when excited with UV excitation nor alpha excitation. Following further literature research and using the analysis technique of Rutherford Backscattering it was concluded that the chlorine charge compensation dopant was lost during the growth process resulting in incomplete incorporation of the luminescent silver dopant into the lattice.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Miller, T.
Date:	2010
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 09:35
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2015 09:35
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/276