Prototyping and performance study of a single crystal diamond detector for operation at high temperatures

Prototype single crystal diamond detectors with different types of metallization and post metallization treatment were fabricated for the applications requiring fast neutron measurements in the Indian Test Blanket Module (TBM) at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Experiment. The detectors were characterized by leakage current measurements to ascertain that the leakage currents are low and breakdown voltages are higher than the voltage required for full charge collection. The detector response to charged particles was evaluated using a 238+239 Pu dual energy alpha source. The detectors showed an energy resolution of about 2% at 5.5 MeV. In order to study their suitability for the operation at higher temperatures, leakage current variation and alpha response were studied up to 300 °C. At 300 °C, peaks corresponding to 5.156 MeV and 5.499 MeV alphas could be separated and there was no significant degradation of energy resolution. Finally, the detector response to fast neutrons was evaluated using a Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) neutron generator. The observed spectrum showed peaks corresponding to various channels of n-C interactions with a clear isolated peak corresponding to ~8.5 MeV alphas. The detectors also showed high sensitivity of 3.4×10−2 cps/n/(cm2 s)-4.5×10−2 cps/n/(cm2 s) and excellent linearity of response in terms of count rate at different neutron flux in the observed range of 3.2×105 n/(cm2 s) to 2.0×106 n/(cm2 s).