Development and high temperature testing by 14MeV neutron irradiation of single crystal diamond detectors

In the present paper, the performances of single crystal diamond detectors "ad hoc" designed to operate at high temperature are reported. The detectors were realized using commercial CVD single crystal diamond films, 500 micron thick with metal contacts deposited by sputtering method on each side. The new detector layout is based upon mechanical contacts between the diamond film and the electric ground. The detector was first characterized by measuring the leakage current as function of temperature and applied biasing voltage (I-V characteristics). The results obtained using two different metal contacts, Pt and Ag respectively, while irradiated with 14 MeV neutrons at the Frascati neutron generator (FNG) are reported and compared. It is shown that diamond detectors with Ag metal contacts can be properly operated in spectrometric mode up to 240oC with energy resolution (FWHM) of about 3.5%.