| NUKLEONIKA 2012, 57(4):435-441
A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE PERFORMANCE
OF RADIATION DETECTORS FROM THE HgI2 CRYSTALS GROWN
BY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES
Joao F. T. Martins, Fabio E. Costa, Robinson A. dos Santos, Carlos H. de Mesquita, Margarida M. Hamada
Institute for Nuclear and Energy Research
(IPEN-CNEN/SP),
2242 Prof. Lineu Prestes Ave., Cidade Universitária, 05508-000, Sao Paulo – SP, Brazi
In this work, the establishment of a technology for HgI2 purification and crystal growth is described, aiming at a future application of this crystal as a room temperature radiation semiconductor detector. Two methods of crystal growth were studied in the development of this work: (1) physical vapor transport (PVT) and (2) saturated solution from dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) complexes. In order to evaluate the crystals obtained using each of these methods, systematic measurements were carried out for determining the stoichiometry, structure, orientation, surface morphology and impurity of the crystal. The influence of these physicochemical properties of the crystals developed was evaluated in terms of their performance as a radiation detector. The best response to radiation was found for the crystals grown by the PVT technique. Significant improvement in the performance of HgI2 radiation detector was found, purifying the crystal by means of two successive growths by the PVT technique.
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