Synthetic diamonds with controlled amounts of impurity atoms can be manufactured so that, as thermoluminescent dosimeters, they can be made to have sensitivities at least as good as presently available commercial thermoluminescent dosimeters. They also exhibit, for radiations normally found in therapy situations, a linearity of response that extends from less than 0.01 Gy (1 rad) to over 10 Gy (1000 rad). Their physical size and form, crystals which can have volumes of less than 1 mm3, make them ideal candidates for in vivo monitoring of radiation fields, particularly electron fields where high-resolution measurements are essential for accurate isodose line determinations. Aspects of dose response from gamma-ray beams in relation to the type and concentrations of the impurity atoms within the diamond are discussed, and some experimental values for gamma, x-ray, and electron beams are presented.

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Synthetic diamonds with nitrogen concentrations higher than previously reported in the literature are found to operate very effectively as alpha-particle detectors, as well as detectors for gamma radiation, when operated as ionisation chambers. Certain of the specimens exhibited extensive linear response characteristics when subjected to either alpha particles or gamma radiation of various dose rates. For alpha particles, the response of the detectors at constant particle flux was also found to increase linearly with increasing alpha-particle energy. Unlike previously reported investigations, however, the variation in the response of the synthetic stones to gamma radiation as a function of time was found to be not only more rapid but also to be virtually unaffected by illumination with intense white light.

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