Response of diamond detectors in ultra-high dose-per-pulse electron beams for dosimetry at FLASH radiotherapy.

Objective.With increasing investigation of the so-called FLASH effect, the need for accurate real time dosimetry for ultra-high dose rates is also growing. Considering the ultra-high dose-per-pulse (DPP) necessary to produce the ultra-high dose rates for investigations of the FLASH effect, real time dosimetry is a major challenge. In particular, vented ionization chambers, as used for dosimetry in conventional radiotherapy, show significant deviations from linearity with increasing DPP. This is due to recombination losses in the sensitive air volume. Solid state detectors could be an alternative. Due to their good stability of the response with regard to the accumulated dose, diamond detectors such as the microDiamond could be suitable here. The aims of this work are to investigate the response of microDiamond and adapted microDiamond prototypes in ultra-high DPP electron beams, to understand the underlying effects and to draw conclusions for further detector developments.Approach.For the study, an electron beam with a DPP up to 6.5 Gy and a pulse duration of 2.5µs was used to fulfill the conditions under which the FLASH effect was observed. As a dose rate-independent reference, alanine dosimeters were used.Main Results.It has been shown that the commercially available microDiamond detectors have limitations in terms of linearity at ultra-high DPP. But this is not an intrinsic limitation of the detector principle. The deviations from linearity were correlated with the series resistance and the sensitivity. It could be shown that the linear range can be extended towards ultra-high DPP range by reducing the sensitivity in combination with a low series resistance of the detectors.Significance.The work shows that synthetic single crystal diamond detectors working as Schottky photodiodes are in principle suitable for FLASH-RT dosimetry at electron linear accelerators.

Thimble ionization chambers in medium-energy x-ray beams and the role of constructive details of the central electrode: Monte Carlo simulations and measurements.

This paper presents investigations of thimble ionization chamber response in medium-energy kilovoltage x-ray beams (70-280 kVp, 0.09-3.40 mm Cu HVL). Two thimble ionization chambers (PTW30015 and PTW30016) were investigated, regarding the influence of the central electrode dimensions made of aluminum. Measurements were carried out in photon fields of different beam quality. Corresponding Monte Carlo simulations employing the EGSnrc Monte Carlo code system were performed. The simulations included the modelling of the x-ray tube and measurement setup for generation of x-ray spectra. These spectra were subsequently used to calculate the absorbed energy in the air cavity of the two thimble ionization chamber models and the air kerma at the reference point of the chambers. Measurements and simulations revealed an optimal diameter of the central electrode, concerning an almost energy-independent response of the ionizaton chamber. The Monte Carlo simulations are in good agreement with the measured values, expressed in beam quality correction factors k(Q). The agreement was generally within 0.6% but could only be achieved with an accurate model of the central electrode including its exact shape. Otherwise, deviations up to 8.5% resulted, decreasing with higher photon energies, which can be addressed to the high yield of the photoelectric effect in the electrode material aluminum at low photon energies.