In this paper we present the measurement of the response of 50 μm thin diamond detectors to 14 MeV neutrons. Such neutrons are produced in fusion reactors and are of particular interest for ITER neutron diagnostics. Among semiconductor detectors diamond has properties most appropriate for harsh radiation and temperature conditions of a fusion reactor. However, 300-500 μm thick diamond detectors suffer significant radiation damage already at neutron fluences of the order of 1014 n/cm2. It is expected that a 50 μm thick diamond will withstand a fluence of >1016 n/cm2. We tested two 50 μm thick single crystal CVD diamonds, stacked to form a "sandwich" detector for coincidence measurements. The detector measured the conversion of 14 MeV neutrons, impinging on one diamond, into α particles which were detected in the second diamond in coincidence with nuclear recoil. For 12C(n,α)9Be reaction the total energy deposited in the detector gives access to the initial neutron energy value. The measured 14 MeV neutron detection sensitivity through this reaction by a detector of effective area 3×3 mm2 was 5×10−7 counts cm2/n. This value is in good agreement with Geant4 simulations. The intrinsic energy resolution of the detector was found to be 240 keV FWHM which adds only 10 % to ITER's 14 MeV neutron energy spread.
@article{arxiv.1510.05415,
title = {Response of diamond detector sandwich to 14 MeV neutrons},
author = {M. Osipenko and M. Ripani and G. Ricco and B. Caiffi and F. Pompili and M. Pillon and G. Verona-Rinati and R. Cardarelli},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1510.05415},
year = {2016}
}