High Temperature Semiconductor Sensor for Bore Hole Logging

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Exploratory drilling for oil, gas, mineral, or geothermal energy resources, as well as drilling for purely scientific purposes, often involves bore hole temperatures in excess of150C. High temperature conditions prevent current nuclear measurement tools from being used for bore hole logging of important variables such as density (via gamma ray backscattering measurements) or chemical composition (via neutron activation techniques). Nuclear detectors in use today for these applications must be cooled, but the bore hole dimensions do not allow for the bulky cooling apparatus that would be needed to maintain the system at working temperatures for a practical period of time. This project is an investigation of the properties of zinc telluride (ZnTe), a high atomic number, high density candidate solid state nuclear detector theoretically capable of operating efficiently at 200C or higher. The initial investigation of ZnTe properties is a Phase I project under the program for Small Business Innovation Research. Successful completion of this phase is expected to lead to the development of a high.temperature sensor system for drill hole logging that would have important scientific as well as commercial benefits.