Comparison of natural and synthetic diamond X-ray detectors

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med. 2010 Dec;33(4):301-6. doi: 10.1007/s13246-010-0040-6. Epub 2010 Nov 16.

Abstract

Diamond detectors are particularly well suited for dosimetry applications in radiotherapy for reasons including near-tissue equivalence and high-spatial resolution resulting from small sensitive volumes. However, these detectors have not become commonplace due to high cost and poor availability arising from the need for high-quality diamond. We have fabricated relatively cheap detectors from commercially-available synthetic diamond fabricated using chemical vapour deposition. Here, we present a comparison of one of these detectors with the only commercially-available diamond-based detector (which uses a natural diamond crystal). Parameters such as the energy dependence and linearity of charge with dose were investigated at orthovoltage energies (50-250 kV), and dose-rate dependence of charge at linear accelerator energy (6 MV). The energy dependence of a synthetic diamond detector was similar to that of the natural diamond detector, albeit with slightly less variation across the energy range. Both detectors displayed a linear response with dose (at 100 kV) over the limited dose range used. The sensitivity of the synthetic diamond detector was 302 nC/Gy, compared to 294 nC/Gy measured for the natural diamond detector; however, this was obtained with a bias of 246.50 V compared to a bias of 61.75 V used for the natural diamond detector. The natural diamond detector exhibited a greater dependency on dose-rate than the synthetic diamond detector. Overall, the synthetic diamond detector performed well in comparison to the natural diamond detector.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Diamond / chemistry*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation
  • Humans
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Radiometry / instrumentation*
  • X-Ray Therapy / instrumentation*
  • X-Rays*

Substances

  • Diamond