Charge multiplication effect in thin diamond films

Herein, we report on the enhanced sensitivity for the detection of charged particles in single crystal chemical vapour deposition (scCVD) diamond radiation detectors. The experimental results demonstrate charge multiplication in thin planar diamond membrane detectors, upon impact of 18MeV O ions, under high electric field conditions. Avalanche multiplication is widely exploited in devices such as avalanche photo diodes, but has never before been reproducibly observed in intrinsic CVD diamond. Because enhanced sensitivity for charged particle detection is obtained for short charge drift lengths without dark counts, this effect could be further exploited in the development of sensors based on avalanche multiplication and radiation detectors with extreme radiation hardnes

Evaluation of scintillation properties of α- and β-SiAlON phosphors under focused microbeam irradiation using ion-beam-induced luminescence analysis

Two different types of SiAlON phosphors, namely, α-SiAlON:Eu and β-SiAlON:Eu, that have been developed as scintillators are evaluated for their luminescent properties by ion-beam-induced luminescence (IBIL) analysisunder 2–3-MeV H+-microbeam irradiation. The IBIL spectra show that both α-SiAlON:Eu and β-SiAlON:Eu have bright luminescence similar to that of ZnS:Ag scintillators. The α-SiAlON:Eu and β-SiAlON:Eu IBIL spectra havepeaks at wavelengths of 605 and 540 nm, respectively, which lie in the preferred range of general optical sensors. As the irradiation progresses, the IBIL intensity of conventional ZnS:Ag scintillators decreases sharply, whereasthat of the two SiAlONs remains largely unchanged. Moreover, the thermal resistivity of β-SiAlON:Eu is measured by IBIL under temperature control. The IBIL intensity retains half of its original value at the highest temperature of 773 K. The present experimental results reveal the two different types of SiAlON to be potential candidates for a scintillation monitoring tool for harsh environments in which intense beam irradiation at high temperature can be expected