نبذة مختصرة : International audience ; Silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor is an idealmaterial for solid-state nuclear radiation detectors to be used inhigh-temperature, high-radiation environments. Such harshenvironments are typically encountered in nuclear reactormeasurement locations as well as high-level radioactive wasteand/or “hot” dismantling-decommissioning operations. In thepresent fleet of commercial nuclear reactors, temperatures inexcess of 300 °C are often encountered, and temperatures up to800 °C are anticipated in advanced reactor designs. The widebandgap for SiC (3.27 eV) compared to more widely usedsemiconductors such as silicon (1.12 eV at room temperature) hasallowed low-noise measurements to be carried out at temperaturesup to 700 °C. The concentration of thermally induced chargecarriers in SiC at 700 °C is about four orders of magnitude lessthan that of silicon at room temperature. Furthermore, SiCradiation detectors have been demonstrated to be much moreresistant to the effects of radiation-induced damage than moreconventional semiconductors such as silicon, germanium, orcadmium zinc telluride (CZT), and have been demonstrated to beoperational after extremely high gamma-ray, neutron, andcharged-particle doses. The purpose of the present review is toprovide an updated state of the art for SiC neutron detectors andto explore their applications in harsh high-temperature, high-radiation nuclear reactor applications. Conclusions related to thecurrent state-of-the-art of SiC neutron detectors will be presented,and specific ideal applications will be discussed.
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