Hot wire chemical vapour deposition (HWCVD) of boron carbide thin films from ortho-carborane for neutron detection application

Abstract Detection of neutrons is possible if suitable converters such as Li, LiF or 10 B in the form of thin films are used along with the semiconductor device. The use of boron ( 10 B) in some host matrix as a neutron detector is attractive due to its large neutron capture cross-section. Boron carbide (BC) films are deposited on silicon substrates by HWCVD technique using solid ortho-carborane (o-C 2 B 10 H 12 ) precursor with argon as carrier gas. The films contain 10 B required for neutron detection as confirmed by the Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy. Variations in its structure as well as the chemical bonding configurations using Fourier Transform Infra-Red, Raman and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy have been studied.