Characterisation of CVD diamond detectors used for fast neutron flux monitoring

Natural diamond detectors (NDD) have been successfully used for fast neutron spectrometry on various fusion installations in plasma diagnostics. These detectors can work at high temperature, are radiation hard and exhibit a high energy resolution. However, the use of NDD is limited by the availability of IIa type diamonds exhibiting high electronic properties. With the recent advance in the growth of high quality chemically vapour deposited (CVD) diamond at LETI, CVD diamond appears to be a very promising material for plasma diagnostics. We present here for the first time results of the use of CVD diamond detectors for fast neutron flux monitoring on a neutron generator. The characteristics of CVD diamond detectors are compared with that of high quality NDD made by TRINITI. Pulse height spectra have been measured with CVD detectors and NDD under both 5.5 MeV alpha particles and 14.1 MeV neutrons. The quality of CVD diamond enables the recording of structured spectra allowing the distinction between the different neutron reactions on carbon. The efficiency of CVD diamond monitors and their actual limitations are analysed and discussed.