A CVD based radiation detector has recently become commercially available from the manufacturer PTW-Freiburg (Germany). This detector has a sensitive volume of 0.004 mm(3), a nominal sensitivity of 1 nC Gy(-1) and operates at 0 V. Unlike natural diamond based detectors, the CVD diamond detector reports a low dose rate dependence. The dosimetric properties investigated in this work were dose rate, angular dependence and detector sensitivity and linearity. Also, percentage depth dose, off-axis dose profiles and total scatter ratios were measured and compared against equivalent measurements performed with a stereotactic diode. A Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to estimate the CVD small beam correction factors for a 6 MV photon beam. The small beam correction factors were compared with those obtained from stereotactic diode and ionization chambers in the same irradiation conditions The experimental measurements were performed in 6 and 15 MV photon beams with the following square field sizes: 10 × 10, 5 × 5, 4 × 4, 3 × 3, 2 × 2, 1.5 × 1.5, 1 × 1 and 0.5 × 0.5 cm. The CVD detector showed an excellent signal stability (<0.2%) and linearity, negligible dose rate dependence (<0.2%) and lower response angular dependence. The percentage depth dose and off-axis dose profiles measurements were comparable (within 1%) to the measurements performed with ionization chamber and diode in both conventional and small radiotherapy beams. For the 0.5 × 0.5 cm, the measurements performed with the CVD detector showed a partial volume effect for all the dosimetric quantities measured. The Monte Carlo simulation showed that the small beam correction factors were close to unity (within 1.0%) for field sizes ≥1 cm. The synthetic diamond detector had high linearity, low angular and negligible dose rate dependence, and its response was energy independent within 1% for field sizes from 1.0 to 5.0 cm. This work provides new data showing the performance of the CVD detector compared against a high spatial resolution diode. It also presents a comparison of the CVD small beam correction factors with those of diode and ionization chamber for a 6 MV photon beam.

Micro‐multileaf collimator systems coupled to linear accelerators for radioneurosurgery treatments require a rigorous dosimetric characterization in order to be used in 3D conformal and intensity modulated stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy applications. This characterization involves high precision measurements of leaf transmission, leakage and beam penumbra through the collimation system and requires the use of detectors with high spatial resolution, high sensitivity and practically no energy dependence. In this work the use of GafChromic EBT radiochromic film to measure the basic dosimetric properties of the m3‐mMLC (BrainLAB, Germany) micro‐multileaf collimator system integrated to a 6 MV linear accelerator, is reported. Results show that average values of transmission and leakage radiation are 0.93±0.05% and 1.08±0.08%, respectively. The 80–20% beam penumbra were found to be 2.26±0.11 mm along the leaf side (perpendicular to leaf motion) and 2.31±0.11 mm along the leaf end (parallel to leaf motion) using square field sizes ranging from 9.1 to 1.8 cm. These measurements are in agreement with values reported in the literature for the same type of mMLC using different radiation detectors.PACS number: 87.56.N‐

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