ANSTO internship: Review of Neutron Transmutation Doped silicon and its best applications in semiconductor devices

ANSTO internship No. 1

  • ANSTO Project supervisors : Primary Supervisor – Alex Han, Support supervisors – Vitali Polonski and Stewart Pullen
  • Project duration:  3 months with a possible extension of 3 months.
  • Nominal project commencement date: TBD
FLEET member – Lodge an application

The focus of our proposed project is to explore and document the various ways in which neutron transmutation doped (NTD) silicon exhibits favourable characteristics over other doped technologies (inc. gas-doped silicon) in terms of its electrical properties and suitability for current and future semiconductor technologies. To accomplish this, we aim to produce a comprehensive white paper that outlines the advantages of NTD silicon and highlights its potential applications and help inform decision makers in the semiconductor industry.

Objectives and Deliverables:

  • Conduct an in-depth literature review on NTD silicon and other technologies (inc. gas-doped silicon) to establish a comprehensive understanding of their respective characteristics, manufacturing processes, and electrical performance.
  • Analyse and compare the electrical properties, such as carrier mobility, minority carrier lifetime, and resistivity uniformity, of NTD silicon and other technologies (inc. gas-doped silicon) through experimental measurements and simulations.
  • Identify the specific areas in the semiconductor devices market where NTD silicon exhibits superior performance compared to other technologies (inc. gas-doped silicon).
  • Produce a well-structured white paper summarizing the findings and conclusions of the research, with clear and compelling evidence supporting the advantages of NTD silicon in those applications identified as being suitable to benefit from the use of NTD silicon over other technologies.

 Supervisor bio: Dr. Alex Han is a Silicon Irradiations Engineer at ANSTO. Before joining ANSTO Silicon Alex had about 10 years of experience in advanced silicon solar cell research & manufacturing at the School of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy, UNSW. His current work at ANSTO focuses on production planning, process optimisation and advanced calibration for silicon irradiations services.

  • Project location: B75, Lucas Heights, NSW,
  • Requirement for ANSTO site security clearance (requires 3 months advanced processing):  Yes
  • Option for to work remotely? Yes, the Silicon Team currently follows ANSTO’s 60/40 Hybrid model (60% in office, 40% remotely).
  • Will an interview step be required? Yes/no
  • Site attendance expectations: the Silicon Team currently follows ANSTO’s 60/40 Hybrid model (60% in office, 40% remotely). This will be subject to the evolution of the work and should additional days in an office be required to undertake research and perform experiments or measurements this will need to be accommodated by the successful candidate.
  • Non-disclosure agreement required? (if so, this must be handled by the ANSTO affiliate itself). Yes, an NDA will be required to be signed prior to commencing work. Ownership of the completed works or output will also be retained by ANSTO.