• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.115-119
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• 2022

A readout circuit for a mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT)-amplified mid-wave infrared (IR) photodetector was realized and applied to noncontact chemical agent detectors based on a quantum cascade laser (QCL). The QCL emitted 250 times for each wavelength in 0.2-㎛ steps from 8 to 12 ㎛ with a frequency of 100 kHz and duty ratio of 10%. Because of the nonconstant QCL emission power during on-duty, averaging the photodetector signals is essential. Averaging can be performed in digital back-end processing through a high-speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) or in analog front-end processing through an integrator circuit. In addition, it should be considered that the 250 IR data points should be completely transferred to a PC during each wavelength tuning period of the QCL. To average and minimize the IR data, we designed a readout circuit using the analog front-end processing method. The proposed readout circuit consisted of a switched-capacitor integrator, voltage level shifter, relatively low-speed analog-to-digital converter, and micro-control unit. We confirmed that the MCT photodetector signal according to the QCL source can be accurately read and transferred to the PC without omissions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.1031-1035
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• 2023

Neutron is an indirectly ionizing particle without charge, which is normally measured by detecting reaction products. Neutron detection system based on measuring gadolinium-converted gamma-rays is a good way to monitor the neutron because the representative prompt gamma-rays of gadolinium have low energies (79, 89, 182, and 199 keV). Low energy gamma-rays and their high attenuation coefficient on materials allow the simple design of a detector easier to manufacture. Thus, we designed a cadmium zinc telluride detector to investigate feasibility of simultaneous detection of gamma-rays and neutrons by using the Monte-Carlo simulation, which was divided into two parts; first was gamma-detection part and second was gamma- and neutron-simultaneous detection part. Consequently, we confirmed that simultaneous detection of gamma-rays and neutrons could be feasible and valid, although further research is needed for adoption on real detection.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.191.2-191.2
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• 2015

Details of carrier dynamics in self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) with a particular attention to nonradiative processes are not only interesting for fundamental physics, but it is also relevant to performance of optoelectronic devices and the exploitation of nanocrystals in practical applications. In general, the possible processes in such systems can be considered as radiative relaxation, carrier transfer between dots of different dimensions, Auger nonradiactive scattering, thermal escape from the dot, and trapping in surface and/or defects states. Authors of recent studies have proposed a mechanism for the carrier dynamics of time-resolved photoluminescence CdTe (a type II-VI QDs) systems. This mechanism involves the activation of phonons mediated by electron-phonon interactions. Confinement of both electrons and holes is strongly dependent on the thermal escape process, which can include multi-longitudinal optical phonon absorption resulting from carriers trapped in QD surface defects. Furthermore, the discrete quantized energies in the QD density of states (1S, 2S, 1P, etc.) arise mainly from ${\delta}$-functions in the QDs, which are related to different orbitals. Multiple discrete transitions between well separated energy states may play a critical role in carrier dynamics at low temperature when the thermal escape processes is not available. The decay time in QD structures slightly increases with temperature due to the redistribution of the QDs into discrete levels. Among II-VI QDs, wide-gap CdZnTe QD structures characterized by large excitonic binding energies are of great interest because of their potential use in optoelectronic devices that operate in the green spectral range. Furthermore, CdZnTe layers have emerged as excellent candidates for possible fabrication of ferroelectric non-volatile flash memory. In this study, we investigated the optical properties of CdZnTe/ZnTe QDs on Si substrate grown using molecular beam epitaxy. Time-resolved and temperature-dependent PL measurements were carried out in order to investigate the temperature-dependent carrier dynamics and the activation energy of CdZnTe/ZnTe QDs on Si substrate.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.87-91
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• 2016

Background: A hand-held detector for an emergency response was developed for nuclide identification and to estimate the information of the ambient dose rate in the scene of an accident as well as the radioactivity of the contaminants. Materials and Methods: To achieve this, the most suitable sensor was first selected as a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) semiconductor and the signal processing unit from a sensor and the signal discrimination and storage unit were successfully manufactured on a printed circuit board. Results and Discussion: The performance of the developed signal processing unit was then evaluated to have an energy resolution of about 14 keV at 662 keV. The system control unit was also designed to operate the CZT detector, monitor the detector, battery, and interface status, and check and transmit the measured results of the ambient dose rate and radioactivity. In addition, a collimator, which can control the inner radius, and the airborne dust sampler, which consists of an air filter and charcoal filter, were developed and mounted to the developed CZT detector for the quick and efficient response of a nuclear accident. Conclusion: The hand-held CZT detector was developed to make the in-situ gamma-ray spectrometry and its performance was checked to have a good energy resolution. In addition, the collimator and the airborne dust sampler were developed and mounted to the developed CZT detector for a quick and efficient response to a nuclear accident.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2016

Background: For positron emission tomography (PET) application, cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) has been investigated by several institutes to replace detectors from a conventional system using photomultipliers or Silicon-photomultipliers (SiPMs). The spatial and energy resolution in using CZT can be superior to current scintillator-based state-of-the-art PET detectors. CZT has been under development for several years at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) to provide a high performance gamma ray detection, which needs a single crystallinity, a good uniformity, a high stopping power, and a wide band gap. Materials and Methods: Before applying our own grown CZT detectors in the prototype PET system, we investigated preliminary research with a developed discrete type data acquisition (DAQ) system for coincident events at 128 anode pixels and two common cathodes of two CZT detectors from Redlen. Each detector has a $19.4{\times}19.4{\times}6mm^3$ volume size with a 2.2 mm anode pixel pitch. Discrete amplifiers consist of a preamplifier with a gain of $8mV{\cdot}fC^{-1}$ and noise of 55 equivalent noise charge (ENC), a $CR-RC^4$ shaping amplifier with a $5{\mu}s$ peak time, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) driver. The DAQ system has 65 mega-sample per second flash ADC, a self and external trigger, and a USB 3.0 interface. Results and Discussion: Characteristics such as the current-to-voltage curve, energy resolution, and electron mobility life-time products for CZT detectors are investigated. In addition, preliminary results of gamma ray imaging using 511 keV of a $^{22}Na$ gamma ray source were obtained. Conclusion: In this study, the DAQ system with a CZT radiation sensor was successfully developed and a PET image was acquired by two sets of the developed DAQ system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2008

In recent years, gradually increasing interest has been directed to the use of terahertz technology in nondestructive testing and non-invasive measurements, and terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has become a key technology in such applications. This paper deals with the terahertz pulse generation from cadmium telluride via optical rectification process of femto-second infrared laser pulses. The measured terahertz spectrum is compared with the result of model calculation based on space-time domain nonlinear Maxwell equations for coherent frequency mixing process. The propagation process of terahertz and infra-red pulses in the material as well as the surface interference and free space diffraction effects are also considered. The experimental results are in good agreements with the calculated spectrum.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.105-110
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• 2016

Sparse angular sampling has been studied recently owing to its potential to decrease the radiation exposure from computed tomography (CT). In this study, we investigated the analytic reconstruction algorithm in sparse angular sampling using the sinogram interpolation method for improving image quality and computation speed. A prototype of the spectral CT system, which has a 64-pixel Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT)-based photon-counting detector, was used. The source-to-detector distance and the source-to-center of rotation distance were 1,200 and 1,015 mm, respectively. Two energy bins (23~33 keV and 34~44 keV) were set to obtain two reconstruction images. We used a PMMA phantom with height and radius of 50.0 mm and 17.5 mm, respectively. The phantom contained iodine, gadolinium, calcification, and lipid. The Feld-kamp-Davis-Kress (FDK) with the sinogram interpolation method and Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization (MLEM) algorithm were used to reconstruct the images. We evaluated the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the materials. The SNRs of iodine, calcification, and liquid lipid were increased by 167.03%, 157.93%, and 41.77%, respectively, with the 23~33 keV energy bin using the sinogram interpolation method. The SNRs of iodine, calcification, and liquid state lipid were also increased by 107.01%, 13.58%, and 27.39%, respectively, with the 34~44 keV energy bin using the sinogram interpolation method. Although the FDK algorithm with the sinogram interpolation did not produce better results than the MLEM algorithm, it did result in comparable image quality to that of the MLEM algorithm. We believe that the sinogram interpolation method can be applied in various reconstruction studies using the analytic reconstruction algorithm. Therefore, the sinogram interpolation method can improve the image quality in sparse-angular sampling and be applied to CT applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.278-281
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• 2003

The p-CIn2Te4 single crystal was grown in the three-stage vertical electric furnace by using Bridgman method. The quality of the grown crystal has been investigated by the x-ray diffraction and the photoluminescence measurements. From the photoluminescence spectra of the as-grown CdIn2Te4 crystal and the various heat-treated crystals, the (Do, X) emission was found to be the dominant intensity in the photoluminescence spectrum of the CdIn2Te4:Cd, while the (Ao, X) emission completely disappeared in the CdIn2Te4:Cd. However, the (Ao, X) emission in the photoluminescence spectrum of the CdIn2Te4:Te was the dominant intensity like an as-grown CdIn2Te4 crystal. These results indicated that the (Do, X) is associated with VTe acted as donor and that the (Ao, X) emission is related to VCd acted as acceptor, respectively. The p-CdIn2Te4 crystal was found to be obviously converted into the n-type after annealing in the Cd atmosphere. The origin of (Do, Ao) emission and its TO phonon replicas is related to the interaction between donors such as VTe or Cdint, and accepters such as VCd or Teint. Also, the In in the CdIn2Te4 was confirmed not to form the native defects because it existed in the stable form of bonds.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.580-580
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• 2012

Heterostructures has unique and important properties, which may be helpful for finding many potential applications in the field of electronic, thermoelectric, and optoelectronic devices. We synthesized CdTe/Te core-shell heterostructures by vapor-solid process at low temperatures using a quartz tube furnace. Two step vapor-solid processes were employed. First, various tellurium structures such as nanowires, nanorods, nanoneedles, microtubes and microrods were synthesized under various deposition conditions. These tellurium nanostructures were then used as substrates in the second step to synthesize the CdTe/Te core-shell heterostructures. Using this method, various sizes, shapes and types of CdTe/Te core-shell structures were fabricated under a range of conditions. These structures were analysed by scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The vapor phase process at low temperatures appears to be an efficient method for producing a variety of Cd/Te hetero-nanostructures. In addition, the hetero-nanostructures can be tailored to the needs of specific applications by deliberately controlling the synthetic parameters.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.379-385
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• 2006

Single crystal of p-$CdIn_{2}Te_{4}$ was grown in a three-stage vertical electric furnace by using Bridgman method. The quality of the grown crystal has been investigated by x-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements. From the photoluminescence spectra of the as-grown $CdIn_{2}Te_{4}$ crystal and the various heat-treated crystals, the ($D^{o}$, X) emission was found to be the dominant intensity in the photoluminescence spectrum of the $CdIn_{2}Te_{4}$:Cd, while the ($A^{o}$, X) emission completely disappeared in the $CdIn_{2}Te_{4}$:Cd. However, the ($A^{o}$, X) emission in the photoluminescence spectrum of the $CdIn_{2}Te_{4}$:Te was the dominant intensity like in the as-grown $CdIn_{2}Te_{4}$ crystal. These results indicated that the ($D^{o}$, X) is associated with $V_{Te}$ which acted as donor and that the ($A^{o}$, X) emission is related to $V_{Cd}$ which acted as acceptor, respectively. The p-$CdIn_{2}Te_{4}$ crystal was obviously found to be converted into n-type after annealing in Cd atmosphere. The origin of ($D^{o},{\;}A^{o}$) emission and its to phonon replicas is related to the interaction between donors such as $V_{Te}$ or $Cd_{int}$, and acceptors such as $V_{Cd}$ or $Te_{int}$. Also, the In in the $CdIn_{2}Te_{4}$ was confirmed not to form the native defects because it existed in a stable bonding form.