Chinese state-owned nuclear company claims breakthrough with radiation detection chip

South China Morning Post:  A Chinese state-owned nuclear company said it has started mass production of the world's first chip that can detect X-ray and gamma radiation, in the latest sign of China's unrelenting efforts to seek semiconductor technology breakthroughs.

The state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said in a statement on its official WeChat channel that the self-developed chip can measure dose rates of X- and gamma-ray radiation ranging from 100 nanoSievert per hour to 10 milliSievert per hour. The typical dose rate of radiation exposure when flying on a commercial aeroplane, for instance, is around 3,000 nanoSievert per hour, while that of exposure to natural background is around 60 to 200 nanoSievert per hour.

CNNC said the proposed applications were "broad", as customers can use the chip to monitor radiation doses in various scenarios including nuclear-related workplaces, personnel and environmental settings, after adapting the circuit based on instructions in the manual.

It can also be integrated into smartphones and drones as a radiation sensor, which could then be used as smart devices with a radiation detection function, according to CNNC.

The chip's sensitivity is comparable to a Geiger-Muller counter widely used in environmental measurement, despite its small size of 15mm by 15mm by 3mm, according to CNNC.

It can detect energies from 50 kiloelectron volt to 2 mega electron-volt, and has extremely low power consumption of one milliwatt.

The US sanctioned CNNC said its team was involved in the whole development process, from chip design and tape-out to packaging and testing, and has now outsourced mass production to "authorised factories".

The development comes as China continues to push for self-reliance in technology, especially in semiconductors, amid an intensifying tech war with the US, which has sought to curb China's high-tech access over national security concerns.

Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated the importance of science and technology in China's modernisation, and the need for self-reliance.

"High-tech development cannot be begged for; we must accelerate the realisation of high-level technological self-reliance and self-improvement," state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying during his visit to the southeastern high-tech hub of Hefei.