Development of an high resolution neutron spectroscopy system using a diamond detector and a remote digital acquisition methodology

The need of performing high resolution fast neutron spectroscopy in a very harsh environment like that of the Radial Neutron Camera (RNC) of ITER, requires to develop new detectors and methodologies. Diamond detectors have been proved to be excellent candidates but the electronics needs a substantial improvement. Because of the high radiation level and the temperatures expected near the detector positions in the RNC, the electronics must be placed several meters away. A novel Fast Charge Amplifier (FCA) was developed that, connected to a diamond detector using several tens of meters of low capacitance coaxial cable, is able to produce fast output signals suitable to be processed by digital electronics. These fast output signals allow to operate at high count rates avoiding pile-up problems. This novel amplifier connected to a digitizer is here tested in the neutron energy range from 5 to 20.5 MeV using the mono-energetic neutrons produced by the Van de Graaff (VdG) accelerator of the EC-JRC-IRMM and by the PTB cyclotron. From the measurements the experimental response functions of the diamond detector at different neutron energies were obtained. The shape of the response functions have been compared with that predicted with a routine which was implemented for the Monte Carlo code MCNPX with the scope to validate the calculations versus the experimental data. The goal is to develop a tool which allows to calculate the diamond detector response functions also in term of absolute efficiency. This methodology along with the ability to measure at high reaction rates and the insensitivity to radiation damage launches the system described in this paper as a promising method for neutron spectrometry in the RNC of ITER. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.