Testing of a Prototype Detector of Heavy Charged Particles Based on Diamond Epitaxial Films Obtained by Gas-Phase Deposition

Abstract

The results of testing a prototype of a surface-barrier detector of charged particles based on single-crystal epitaxial layers of diamond are presented. Diamond films with p-type conduction with a boron concentration of (4–8) × 10¹⁴ cm^–3 65 μm thick were grown using gas-phase deposition on heavily doped diamond substrates grown at high pressure and high temperature. A 17 mm² Schottky barrier was formed by sputtering Pt with a thickness of 30 nm. When irradiated from the ²³⁸Pu α-source (the 5.499 keV line) a detector with an external bias of 90 V demonstrated a charge collection efficiency close to 100% and a FWHM high energy resolution of 0.56%. The obtained energy resolution is at the level of standard silicon detectors.