High performance 6LiF-diamond thermal neutron detectors

Fabrication reproducibility and high performance reliability were obtained in fissile-material-free thermal neutron detectors based on chemical vapor deposited diamond in a multilayered p-type/intrinsic/metal design. Under alpha particle irradiation, all the detectors (more than ten) have shown 100% charge collection efficiency and approximately 1.5% energy resolution. A (LiF)-Li-6 layer was deposited on the detector surface as converting material for thermal neutrons through the Li-6(n,alpha)T nuclear reaction. Both the 2.73 MeV tritium and the 2.06 MeV alpha peaks are detected and clearly resolved. Stable performance and excellent linear behavior of the count rate versus the incident neutron flux were observed. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.