Pulse-shape analysis for gamma background rejection in thermal neutron radiation using CVD diamond detectors

A novel technique for the rejection of gamma background from charged-particle spectra was demonstrated using a CVD diamond detector with a 6Li neutron converter installed at a thermal neutron beamline of the TRIGA research reactor at the Atominstitut (Vienna University of Technology). Spectra of the alpha particles and tritons of 6Li(n,T)4He thermal neutron capture reaction were separated from the gamma background by a new algorithm based on pulse-shape analysis. The thermal neutron capture in 6Li is already used for neutron flux monitoring, but the ability to remove gamma background allows using a CVD diamond detector for thermal neutron counting. The pulse-shape analysis can equally be applied to all cases where the charged products of an interaction are absorbed in the diamond and to other background particles that fully traverse the detector.