A π-conjugated organic material for detecting
ionizing radiation, and particularly for detecting low energy
fission neutrons. The π-conjugated materials comprise a class of organic materials whose members are intrinsic semiconducting materials. Included in this class are π-conjugated polymers,
polyaromatic hydrocarbon molecules, and quinolates. Because of their high resistivities (≧109
ohm·cm), these π-conjugated organic materials exhibit very
low leakage currents. A device for detecting and measuring
ionizing radiation can be made by applying an
electric field to a layer of the π-conjugated
polymer material to measure
electron / hole pair formation. A layer of the π-conjugated
polymer material can be made by conventional
polymer fabrication methods and can be cast into sheets capable of covering large areas. These sheets of polymer
radiation detector material can be deposited between flexible electrodes and rolled up to form a
radiation detector occupying a small volume but having a large surface area. The
semiconducting polymer material can be easily fabricated in
layers about 10 μm to 100 μm thick. These thin polymer
layers and their associated electrodes can be stacked to form unique multi-layer
detector arrangements that occupy small volume.