Testing of a new large-area diode at the HIMAC accelerator

During the night of 11–12 March 2026, an experiment using a 160 MeV proton beam was conducted at the Japanese HIMAC accelerator. The main objective was to test a new large-area semiconductor diode with dimensions of 28 × 28 mm², which will serve as a sensor for the CZPAD personal dosimeter.

The experiment focused on the arrangement of two diodes in a telescopic configuration and on verifying the coincidence function, which is intended to enable reliable discrimination between charged particles and neutrons. The measurements also included testing of conversion layers that transform thermal neutrons into secondary charged particles detectable by the semiconductor detector.

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