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 x 4.5 mm x 500 mu m. 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 x 10(5) s(-1) cm(-2). The pronounced peak with a central energy of 8.28 MeV characterizing the C-12(n, alpha)Be-9 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 the C-12(n, n')3 alpha reaction is also identified with an energy resolution of better than 7.67%.