Neutron detecting semiconductor device

A method of detecting the strength of a neutron field, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of flash memory cells on a substrate, each memory cell capable of storing a state;
• providing a neutron-reactant material near the memory cells, wherein, upon reacting with a neutron, the neutron-reactant material emits one or more particles capable of changing the state of at least one of the memory cells;
• setting the state of each memory cell to an initial value;
• reading the state of each of the memory cells to determine the number of memory cells changing from the initial state to a disturbed state;
• and
• using the number of memory cells having a disturbed state and determining the strength of the neutron field.

A semiconductor device for detecting the presence of a neutron field, comprising:

• a substrate;
• a plurality of flash memory transistors disposed on the substrate, each of the transistors having a floating gate disposed over a channel region, each transistor having a first state associated with an inversion layer in the respective channel region and a second state associated with the absence of the inversion layer;
• a borophosphosilicate glass having a relatively high concentration of .sup.10 B disposed near each transistor, the borophosphosilicate glass emitting an alpha particle upon reacting with a neutron, wherein an emitted alpha particle is capable of removing an inversion layer and changing the state of a transistor;
• and
• a controller, coupled to the transistors, for setting a memory state of each transistor to the first state, reading the memory state of each transistor to determine the number of transistors changing from the first state to the second state, and using the number of transistors having the second state to determine the presence of the neutron field.