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

Detection of neutrons is possible if suitable converters such as Li, LiF or 10B in the form of thin films are used along with the semiconductor device. The use of boron (10B) 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-C2B10H12) precursor with argon as carrier gas. The films contain 10B 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.