Zinc oxide nanowire gamma ray detector with high spatiotemporal resolution

Abstract

To my mom, Linda.iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThere are no words to express how grateful I am for all the people that have been part of my life during this journey. I could not have completed my PhD without their help, and I would first like to thank the two advisors that guided me through my graduate career.Professor Richard Mu accepted me as an REU student during my final summer as an undergraduate. After interacting with his group and getting a chance to do actual research in a lab, I changed my graduate path from computational physics to experimental physics and never looked back. Professor Mu's group has always felt like an extended family, where the members worked hard and helped each other without question. I also learned humility in his groupcelebrate the victories in the lab, but be mindful of the people and path that led to that point. I honestly can't begin to express how much I appreciate everything he has done to help me and my family over the years. He has been there through all of the ups and downs in my personal and professional life, and I am honored for the chance to continue to work with him in the future.Professor Richard Haglund accepted me into his group at Vanderbilt after I finished my Master's at Fisk University. I struggled at the beginning while trying to balance course work with research and family, and he gave me some of the best advice I've ever received. He told me that my future was in my hands and that I would fail or succeed based on my own actions. That motivated me to work harder than I had ever worked and is something I still carry with me today.I also want to thank Professor Haglund for instilling within me a deeper appreciation for the elegance of physics, from cascade lasers to perturbation theory. His depth of knowledge and work-life balance are inspiring, and I look forward to working with him in future projects. My mom and dad worked extremely hard to provide a solid foundation for me and my brother. I couldn't ask for better parents. My dad worked to provide for our family, and my mom put her career on hold to stay home with me and my brother. They encouraged us to reach for the stars and to always choose the right path, even if it was the more difficult one. I am who I am today due in large part to the sacrifices, encouragement, and love that my parents provided.

Magnetron Sputtering for ZnO:Ga Scintillation Film Production and Its Application Research Status in Nuclear Detection

“…Zinc oxide can also be used in high-temperature environments under high pressure due to its extremely high melting point of 1975 • C, since ZnO decomposes near the melting temperature at ambient pressure [4,5]. Moreover, ZnO has a high density of 5.61 g/cm 3 , which is less than that of conventional heavy-metal oxide scintillators but greater than that of plastic scintillators [6], resulting in a relatively low gamma-ray stopping power [7], and its fluorescence decay lifetime near ultraviolet exciton emission is only several hundreds of picoseconds [8]. Accordingly, ZnO is attractive for detecting high-energy rays and particles, such as X-rays, γ-rays, and α-particles with ultrafast response time in the environment with high radiation and high temperature [9,10].…”

Ultraviolet Luminescence of ZnO Whiskers, Nanowalls, Multipods, and Ceramics as Potential Materials for Fast Scintillators

“…ZnO has good radiation hardness [2], however, due to its low density, its use in the registration of high-energy X-ray and gamma radiation can be restricted. Despite this, various authors have reported on ways to improve the spatial and temporal resolution of scintillators based on ZnO [3,4]. Successful application of a ZnO-based detector for the detection of nuclear radiation is reported in [5,6].…”