Development of highly efficient and high speed X-ray detectors using modern nanomaterials

Abstract

The secondary electron emission (SEE) yield of heterostructures of ZnO nanoneedles coaxially coated with AlN or GaN has been studied for the first time using electron, ion, and X-ray beams. The SEE yield of the heterostructures is enhanced significantly by the intrinsic nanostructure of the ZnO nanoneedle templates as compared to the AlN and GaN thin films on Si substrates. These findings open up a way to develop new universal highly efficient radiation detectors based on the SEE principle by incorporating these one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures as a material of choice. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.