Scintillation properties of diamond powders and feasibility of using them in thermal neutron detectors

Muller, Erik M.; Bolotnikov, Aleksey; Farquhar, Erik R.; Gallice, Niccolò; Tsang, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2025.171093

Scintillation properties of diamond powders and feasibility of using them in thermal neutron detectors

Journal Article · Tue Oct 14 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2025.171093· OSTI ID:3003345

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[2]; Tsang, Thomas ^[2]

Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)

Diamond offers unique properties for radiation detection, including high radiation hardness, very low gamma sensitivity, and fast response. Conventional diamond detectors rely on charge collection, but this approach requires ultra-pure single crystals and suffers from radiation-induced degradation. Here, in this work, we demonstrate an alternative approach using diamonds as scintillators for detection of charged particles and thermal neutrons. Prototypes were fabricated from commercially available diamond powders bonded to glass substrates and coupled with ⁶LiF converters and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and conventional PMTs. We characterized their scintillation properties under alpha particle excitation, x-ray photoluminescence, and thermal neutrons. The tryout detectors exhibit strong scintillation light signals, nanosecond-scale response times, and neutron detection efficiencies up to approximately 14 %, evaluated by comparison to conventional ³He detector with known efficiency. These results demonstrate the feasibility of cost-effective, lightweight and robust diamond scintillation detectors for applications in space and planetary science, nuclear security, safeguards and environmental monitoring requiring efficient, robust, gamma-blind neutron detectors.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 3003345

Report Number(s):: BNL--229144-2025-JAAM

Journal Information:: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Journal Name: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment Vol. 1083; ISSN 0168-9002

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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