13C(n, $\alpha_{0}$ )10Be cross section measurement with sCVD diamond detector

Abstract

This paper presents 13C(n, $\alpha_{0}$ )10Be cross section measurements performed at the Van de Graaff facility of the Joint Research Centre Geel. The 13C(n, $\alpha_{0}$ )10Be cross section was measured relative to the 12C(n, $\alpha_{0}$ )9Be cross section at 14.3 MeV and 17.0 MeV neutron energies. The measurements were performed with an sCVD (single-crystal chemical vapor deposition) diamond detector which acted as sample and as sensor simultaneously. A novel analysis technique was applied, which is based on the pulse-shape analysis of the detector’s ionization current. This technique resulted in an efficient separation of background events and consequently in a well-determined selection of the nuclear reaction channels 12C(n, $\alpha_{0}$ )9Be and 13C(n, $\alpha_{0}$ )10Be.