Direct Ionizing Radiations Detectors based on Organic Semiconducting Single Crystals (Printed Electronics Europe 2014)

Devices based on inorganic semiconductors (like CdTe or

SiC) can detect ionizing radiations (e.g. X-rays, alpha particles, neutrons, etc) via direct production of electrical current upon irradiation. However, these devices are expensive and often of complex technological realization, and require high voltages feed, as well as special operation regimes (high vacuum, cooling, etc).

Here, we report over the use of organic semiconducting single crystals (OSSCs) as direct ionizing radiations detectors able to work at low voltages (below 50 V) and in normal conditions (room temperature, normal atmosphere, under ambient light), which are robust to heavy radiation doses and with a rather fast response time (< 50 ms) 1.

The response of this new class of direct detectors is linear over an energy range relevant for several biomedicine applications (8-30 KeV). The overall detector's features allow to realize portable, flexible and reliable detectors, and results achieved in this sense will be reported.

Alessandro Fraleoni Morgera holds a PhD in Industrial Chemistry, achieved at the University of Bologna, Italy. He currently works as Senior Researcher at the Univ. of Trieste, Dept. of Engineering and Architecture. He is author/co-author of 45 papers on international, peer-reviewed journals, of more than 80 presentations to conferences and 7 patents. His current research interests are in the field of growth and characterization of organic single crystals and nanofabrication by self-assembly.

Read more at: http://www.idtechex.com/idtechex-sensors-europe/show/en/speakers/8470/inkjet-printed-organic-single-crystals-as-low-power-consuming-flexible-x-rays-detectors

The University of Trieste is among the best universities in Italy for quality of teaching and excellence of research, and Trieste itself is the European city with the highest density of research institutions. The Dept. of Engineering and Architecture of the Univ. of Trieste is a truly interdisciplinary and stimulating environement, in which innovative ideas are devised and developed, especially in the field of Materials Science.