Fabrication of a single-crystal diamond neutron detector and its application in 14.1 MeV neutron detection in deuterium–tritium fusion experiments

A single-crystal diamond detector is fabricated to diagnose 14.1 MeV deuterium-tritium(D-T)fusion neutrons.The size of its diamond film is 4.5 mm × 4.5 mm × 500 μm.This film is sandwiched by a flat,strip-patterned gold electrode.The dark current of this detector is experimentally measured to be lower than 0.1 nA under an electric field of 30 kV cm-1.This diamond detector is used to measure D-T fusion neutrons with a flux of about 7.5 × 105 s-1cm-2.The pronounced peak with a central energy of 8.28 MeV characterizing the12C(n,α)9Be reaction in the neutron energy spectrum is experimentally diagnosed,and the energy resolution is better than 1.69%,which is the best result reported so far using a diamond detector.A clear peak with a central energy of 6.52 MeV characterizing the12C(n,n’) 3α reaction is also identified with an energy resolution of better than 7.67%.