Artificial diamonds as radiation-hard detectors for ultra-fast fission-fragment timing

In the framework of the construction of the double time-of-flight spectrometer VERDI, where we aim at measuring pre- and post-neutron masses directly and simultaneously, ultra-fast time pick-up detectors based on artificial diamond material were investigated for the first time with fission fragments from 252Cf (0.5MeV/u

► First use of chemical vapor deposited diamond for heavy ions with kinetic energies below 2 MeV per nucleon.
► Fission-fragment time-of-flight measurements with a timing resolution better than 150 ps.
► Radiation-hard fission event trigger to be used in an intense neutron field.