ISSN:
1089-7623
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
,
Electrical Engineering, Measurement and Control Technology
Notes:
Diamond, with its high radiation damage resistance, is an attractive alternative to silicon for neutron measurements in next step fusion experiments. A 200-μm-thick type IIa natural diamond with Ti/Au contacts was tested at the LAMPF-WNR facility by time-of-flight neutron energy identification. The crystal, having a carrier lifetime of up to 1 ns, was arranged in a low-energy-resolution, high-sensitivity proton recoil telescope consisting of a polyethylene radiator and a low-energy-proton Teflon filter. This arrangement is similar to the triton burnup monitor of Croft et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 64, 1418 (1993)], where a silicon photodiode was used as a recoil proton detector. The observed sensitivity for 14 MeV neutrons (DT) is (1.25±0.15)×10−3 counts/neutron. However, a high contribution of neutron-induced events in the diamond, mainly carbon (A=12) recoils, was observed. A one-dimensional calculation for the detector response to carbon recoil and proton deposition is compared to the measurements. Poor energy resolution of the diamond detector precludes pulse height discrimination between direct 2.5 MeV neutrons events and proton events corresponding to 14 MeV neutrons. Therefore, an overall DT/DD neutron sensitivity ratio of only ∼6.5 is achieved. This value is much lower than the ratio of 540 reported by Croft et al. in their silicon (A=28) monitor.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1147668
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