Neutrino Detector Development at MIT

该奖项将为使用悬浮在闪烁体油中的镉基量子点作为中子探测的主动目标的研究提供资金。量子点是半导体纳米晶体，是高效的荧光团。发射波长可通过点的大小来调节，宽度约为25纳米。大多数点是由镉构成的，其中CdS和CdSe点最为常见。Cd具有高的中子吸收截面，仅次于钆。目标是研究当中子被捕获时，基于cd的量子点目标将如何反应。目前，掺杂量子点的大规模探测器过于昂贵，无法建造；然而，不断扩大的量子点市场，特别是在生物和医疗行业，预计将大幅降低成本。该项目旨在建立第一个基于量子点的小型中子探测器。该奖项的广泛影响主要来自于它为少数族裔学生提供了获得实际硬件体验的机会。该项目还包括麻省理工学院少数族裔暑期研究项目的学生，他们将创建网页，以便与公众分享研发的兴趣和兴奋。

This award will provide funds for a study of the use of cadmium-based quantum dots suspended in scintillator oil as an active target for neutron detection. Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that are highly efficient fluorophores. The emission wavelengths are tunable by the size of the dot and have widths of about 25 nm. Most dots are constructed of cadmium, with CdS and CdSe dots the most common. Cd has a high cross section for neutron absorption, second only to gadolinium. The goal is to study how a Cd-based quantum dot target will respond when neutrons are captured. At present, a large scale detector doped with quantum dots is far too expensive to construct; however, the expanding market for quantum dots, especially in the biological and medical industries, is expected to drive the cost down significantly. This project aims at building the first small quantum-dot-based neutron detector.The broader impact of this award arises largely from the opportunity it affords minority students to obtain hands-on hardware experience. This project also involves students from the MIT Summer Research Program for minorities who will create webpages, so that the interest and excitement of the R&D can be shared with the public.