Improved performance in synthetic diamond neutron detectors: Application to boron neutron capture therapy

An improved thermal and fast neutrons detector is obtained, modifying a recently proposed multilayered homoepitaxial Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamond detector (M. Marinelli, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 89 (2006) 143509), where a 6LiF layer deposited on the sensing layer was used to convert thermal neutrons into charged particles. By sandwiching this layer between two CVD diamond detectors connected in parallel, a better signal-to-background separation is achieved. This allows to use 10B as converting element, so to realize a detector suitable for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy dosimetry. Also, the doubled detector volume enhances the sensitivity to fast neutrons.