Chapter 12 Other Materials: Status and Prospects

This chapter reviews recent research on “new” materials—that is, those materials that have promise based on known or anticipated physical and electronic properties but have not yet been proven suitable for use as detector materials. Data reported in the literature that are relevant to nuclear radiation detection applications are tabulated and compared, and an assessment of potential future progress is made. Semiconductor nuclear detectors have been used for decades but are experiencing a dramatic increase in interest now. This increase is due partly to the availability of better quality materials and advances in semiconductor processing technology that make possible the fabrication of new and better device structures. One of the most important factors that have stimulated interest in semiconductor detectors is the availability of powerful and relatively inexpensive computers and electronic circuitry for powering and reading out semiconductor devices. All of these advances have had a direct effect on the desire to identify and develop new materials to solve problems that cannot be solved using the three “traditional” semiconductor detector materials: silicon, germanium, and cadmium telluride.