Behaviour of 6LiF covered single crystal diamond detectors operated at high temperature under neutron irradiation

This paper reports about the influence of working temperature (< 190 °C) on time dependent performances of a single crystal diamond detector (SCD) covered with a thin 6LiF layer (LiDia). This detector is studied since it can be proposed as tritium production monitor in fusion reactors. The LiDia detector was produced at Rome "Tor Vergata" University, it is characterised by a layered structure and by the presence of a metal/diamond junction which produces a built-in potential (∼ 1.9 V) sufficient to operate the detector without external biasing voltage. The measurements were performed up to 190 °C using both 5.5 MeV alphas and neutrons. The results pointed out the superior performances of diamond respect to other detectors (e.g. silicon) when operated at high temperature, however the present work pointed out that a diamond detector assembled to operate at room temperature can suffer of mechanical and electrical stress. Concerns about the behaviour of the metal/carbon barrier at high temperature is also pointed out. The results indicate that with a proper design LiDia diamond detectors can be suitable for operation at temperature much higher than 200 °C. © 2013 IEEE.