Diamond detectors unlock new precision in fusion reactor diagnostics
Europe's JET tokamak has successfully deployed synthetic diamond-based sensors to measure and analyze neutrons from experimental fusion reactions with unprecedented accuracy. The breakthrough matters because precise neutron diagnostics are essential for validating fusion reactor designs and safety protocols—critical requirements for commercial fusion energy developers seeking to prove their technology at scale.
Originaltitel: The single crystal diamond-based diagnostic suite of the JET tokamak for 14 MeV neutron counting and spectroscopy measurements in DT plasmas
<p>The Joint European Torus (JET) has recently conducted its second deuterium-tritium (DT) experimental campaign DTE2, providing unique opportunity for studying both physics and engineering aspects of nuclear fusion plasmas. This also allowed the exploitation of new diagnostics and technologies that were not available during the first JET DT campaign held in 1997. Among these new instruments, the enhancement projects of the JET nuclear diagnostics lead to the development and installation of synthetic single crystal diamond detectors along different collimated line of sights. This paper describes the single crystal diamond-based diagnostic suite of the JET tokamak and the enhanced 14 MeV neutron diagnostic capabilities in terms of neutron yield and high resolution neutron spectroscopy. The diamond characterization measurements and the calibration procedure at JET are shown, together with performance of the diamond based neutron spectrometer as 14 MeV neutron yield monitor which allows the separation of 2.5 MeV and 14 MeV neutrons in trace tritium plasmas. The first high-resolution 14 MeV neutron spectroscopy measurements in neutral beam injection-heated DT plasmas are presented, allowing thermal and non-thermal neutron component separation. Prospects for the diagnose of DT burning plasmas such as ITER and SPARC will be presented.</p>