Synthetic diamonds as ionisation chamber radiation detectors in biological environments

The Electronic and Optical Properties of Diamond; Do they Favour Device Applications?

The electronic and optical properties of diamond are reviewed, with particular emphasis on current research into the production of semiconducting devices. Although many of the properties of diamond seem, at first sight, to be ideally suited to the development of high power microwave and optoelectronic devices, there are also a number of obstacles to be overcome before diamond may be successfully exploited for device applications.

A synthetic diamond probe for low-energy X-ray dose measurements

The desirable physical properties of diamond have made the mineral a choice material in radiation measurements. Diamond detectors are currently used extensively in high-energy physics. Their use for low-energy beams such as, for example, in mammography X-ray beams however, has not been fully investigated. This paper describes a diamond probe which has been constructed for the evaluation, as the radiation sensing material, of polycrystalline synthetic diamonds produced by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). The specimens were fabricated in wafer form and so the exposure orientation geometry of the diamond wafers, to give optimum absorption of the incident X-ray beam, was also investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The samples were characterized to obtain information regarding the elemental impurity levels, especially nitrogen, and consequently to establish the material quality. Nitrogen impurities and concentration levels in the diamond lattice have been shown to have a profound effect on the radiation detection properties of diamond. The probe described has the diamond surfaces metallized with titanium, platinum and gold to provide ohmic contacts. The probe was connected independently to both Wellhöfer Dosimetrie (model CU 500) and PTW Unidos E commercial electrometers. In all of the measurements, the incident radiation beam was normal to the edge of the diamond wafer to optimize absorption of the X-ray beam after establishing that this orientation was the optimum geometry. The results of the study are presented in both tabular and graphical forms.

A preliminary dosimetric characterization of chemical vapor deposition diamond detector prototypes in photon and electron radiotherapy beams

Three radiation detectors based on polycrystalline diamond films with different thickness and resistivity, obtained by microwave chemical vapor deposition, were tested to assess their suitability for relative dosimetry of photon and electron beams supplied by clinical linear accelerators. All samples showed a linear response as a function of the absorbed dose. The sensitivity per unit of detector sensitive volume spanned between 7 and 43 nC Gy(-1) mm(-3) with an applied electric field of 40 kV/cm. The dose rate dependence was evaluated following the Fowler theory and delta coefficient values between 0.95 and 1.00 were found for the three samples when polarized at 40 kV/cm. Percentage depth dose curves, output factors, and normalized dose profiles were determined for 6 and 10 MV photon beams and for 6 and 15 MeV electron beams. The results obtained with the diamond detectors were in good agreement with those obtained by reference detector measurements [all the data were within the experimental uncertainty of 1% (1sigma)].

Application of a natural diamond detector for the measurement of relative dose distributions in radiotherapy

The suitability of a natural diamond detector with a special contact system for the measurement of relative dose distributions in selected radiotherapy applications was studied. The performance of the diamond detector was analysed by comparison with measurements using an ionization chamber and a silicon diode detector. The good stability, high response and good spatial resolution of the diamond detector were demonstrated by relative measurements in high-energy photon and electron beams and around the 137Cs source of an afterloading device. The application of the diamond detectors for relative as well as absolute dose measurements of beta ray ophthalmic applicators was also highlighted. It is concluded that the diamond with the special contact system is a suitable detector for relative dose measurements in a wide variety of applications, especially when high response and high spatial resolution are required.

X-ray studies of synthetic radiation-counting diamonds

Synthetic diamonds with a nitrogen content less than 100 ppm may be used as radiation dosemeters in a conduction counting mode, and are especially useful in medical applications. Crystal imperfections, revealed by x-ray diffraction topography, were found to affect counting performance. The best quality diamond gave the highest photocurrent (500 nA at 50 V mm-1 and 2.75 Gy min-1). Diamonds containing dislocations had lower photocurrents but had the advantage of shorter settling times (seconds rather than minutes). Placing contacts on two opposite cube (100) faces gave a higher photocurrent than on a pair of octahedral (111) faces. Higher photocurrents were also achieved when the majority of dislocations were perpendicular rather than parallel, to the electric field. Some recommendations for selecting synthetic diamonds for dosemeters are given.