High performance Li6F-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 α particle irradiation, all the detectors (more than ten) have shown 100% charge collection efficiency and approximately 1.5% energy resolution. A Li6F layer was deposited on the detector surface as converting material for thermal neutrons through the Li6(n,α)T nuclear reaction. Both the 2.73MeV tritium and the 2.06MeV α peaks are detected and clearly resolved. Stable performance and excellent linear behavior of the count rate versus the incident neutron flux were observed.