DoD Funds ‘Hostile Environment’ Control Technology Research

May 7, 2012

A Boise State University materials science researcher, along with engineers from Arizona State University, has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to improve the performance of technology used where radiation is present.

Researchers at Boise State University study a specialized material called chalcogenide glass in the hope of improving the performance of radiation detecting devices.

The radiation sensing device invented at Boise State performs tasks in places that are dangerous or impossible for humans to venture, such as outer space, on other planets, or inside nuclear reactor facilities. The researchers hope to optimize the next generation of these devices by focusing on specialized materials that are used in components of small integrated circuits. The new versions of the technologies will be more resilient and more effective in environments with high levels of radiation.

Maria Mitkova, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Boise State, will work with ASU engineering professors Hugh Barnaby and Michael Kozicki to study a specialized material called chalcogenide glasses, which is a glass containing one or more chalcogenide elements such as sulfur and selenium. They are currently found in rewritable DVDs, infrared detectors and lenses, among others. The compounds are useful because they can change physical and electrical properties when photons or radiation with shorter wavelengths redistribute metal atoms within their interiors. Mitkova, an expert in chalcogenide glass systems, will provide studies of radiation- induced changes in the properties of the material and related devices.

“So far little is known about how these materials respond to radiation especially with particles like protons, neutrons, etc, particularly their susceptibility to degradation and how that affects the performance of the device,” Mitkova said. “The knowledge that we gather in this project will be used to develop a deeper understanding of how radiation – from high energy photons, neutrons and ionized particles – affects the material structure and electrical performance of the devices based on chalcogenide glasses.”

The study is expected to take five years to complete.

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