Response of a silicon PIN photodiode to an Am-Be neutron source

In the present work the application of a PIN photodiode with 6LiF and polyethylene converters as a neutron dosimeter is investigated. The response of the photodiode with the 6LiF inside a 25 cm diameter paraffin sphere was measured at different distances from a bare Am–Be source. Similar measurements were performed with a 4 mm thick polyethylene converter. Then, a comparison was made with the dose equivalent calibration curve for this source and the sensitivities were derived for the two detector configurations.