In-depth characterisation of diamond sensors for dosimetry in beam-loss monitoring

Owing to its excellent radiation hardness, diamond has been widely used for solid-state particle detectors and dosimeters in harsh radiation environments. In order to assess the crystal quality and the response of our devices, we carried out several tests using different radiation sources. We devised a current-to-dose-rate calibration method that employs a silicon diode as a reference, to greatly reduce uncertainties associated with the source activity and with the setup simulation. The method has been validated by measuring the calibration factors with X and β radiation, spanning a dose-rate range from hundreds of nrad/s to tens of rad/s. Here we report the results for a set of tests and calibrations performed on ten new diamond detectors recently assembled and tested. The new results include several refinements of the measurements and of their interpretation. We also briefly describe an ongoing irradiation of the devices with 1-GeV electrons from the linac of the FERMI@Elettra FEL in Trieste.