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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Irradiator Commissioning and Dosimetry for Assessment of LQ α and β Parameters, Radiation Dosing Schema, and in vivo Dose Deposition
Published on: March 11, 2021
A method for measuring tissue-equivalent dose using a pin diode and activation foil in epithermal neutron beams with
Martin G Carolan1, Anatoly B Rosenfeld
1Illawarra Cancer Care Centre, Wollongong, NSW, Australia. carolanm@iahs.nsw.gov.au
Abstract:
Silicon (Si) pin diodes can be used for neutron dosimetry by observing the change in forward bias voltage caused by neutron induced displacement damage in the diode junction. Pin diode energy response depends on Si displacement damage KERMA (K(Si)). It is hypothesised that tissue-equivalent (TE) neutron dose could be expressed as a linear combination of K(Si) and foil activation terms. Monte Carlo simulations (MCNP) of parallel monoenergetic neutron beams incident on a cylindrical TE phantom were used to calculate TE dose, K(Si) and Au, Cu and Mn foil activations along the central axis of the phantom. For spectra with neutron energies <100 keV, it is possible to estimate the TE kerma based on silicon damage kerma and Cu or Mn foil measurements. More accurate estimates are possible for spectra where the maximum neutron energy does not exceed 30 keV.

