Ion beam induced charge and cathodoluminescence imaging of response uniformity of CVD diamond radiation detectors

The uniformity of response of CVD diamond radiation detectors produced from high quality diamond film, with crystallite dimensions of >100 μm, has been studied using ion beam induced charge imaging. A micron-resolution scanning alpha particle beam was used to produce maps of pulse height response across the device. The detectors were fabricated with a single-sided coplanar electrode geometry to maximise their sensitivity to the surface region of the diamond film where the diamond crystallites are highly ordered. High resolution ion beam induced charge images of single crystallites were acquired that demonstrate variations in intra-crystallite charge transport and the termination of charge transport at the crystallite boundaries. Cathodoluminescence imaging of the same crystallites shows an inverse correlation between the density of radiative centres and regions of good charge transport.