Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
CVD diamond films show both at optical microscope and at SEM a quasi-columnar structure, not homogeneously distributed in the bulk which is agreed to be responsible for the relatively large charge collection lengths measured in the material. In this work, we present the first data on charge collection efficiency distributions as measured directly in the bulk by a 3 Meν proton microbeam. The results indicate that the material is really non-homogeneous, that only few columns are really connecting both electrodes and that, finally, a real connection exists between the morphological structure and the maps of collection efficiency distribution.