First Tests of Silicon-Carbide Semiconductors as Candidate Neutron Detector for the ITER Test Blanket Modules

The tritium breeding blanket is an essential part of a future DT fusion power reactor. Test Blanket Modules (TBM) will be installed in the experimental reactor ITER with the aim to investigate the nuclear performance of different designs. Currently there is no qualified neutronics instrumentation for the TBMs which is able to withstand the harsh environment conditions such as high temperature and, depending on the operation scenario, intense radiation. One candidate detector type is based on SiC electronics which is considered relatively radiation hard and able to operate at elevated temperatures. For the SiC detector an epitaxial pn-junction was realized on an n-type SiC substrate using an Al-doping. The diode was irradiated at CEA Cadarache, France, with a LINAC Mini-Linatron as a high flux photon source and at the Neutron Laboratory of Technical University of Dresden, Germany, with a DT neutron generator, and californium-252 and americium-beryllium neutron sources. (authors)