Performance of europium-doped strontium iodide, transparent ceramics and bismuth-loaded polymer scintillators

N. J. Cherepy, S. A. Payne, B. W. Sturm, S. P. O'Neal, Z. M. Seeley, O. B. Drury, L. K. Haselhorst, B. L. Rupert, R. D. Sanner, P. A. Thelin, S. E. Fisher, R. Hawrami (+7 others)
2011 Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XIII  
Recently discovered scintillators for gamma ray spectroscopy -single-crystal SrI 2 (Eu), GYGAG(Ce) transparent ceramic and Bismuth-loaded plastics -offer resolution and fabrication advantages compared to commercial scintillators, such as NaI(Tl) and standard PVT plastic. Energy resolution at 662 keV of 2.7% is obtained with SrI 2 (Eu), while 4.5% is obtained with GYGAG(Ce). A new transparent ceramic scintillator for radiographic imaging systems, GLO(Eu), offers high light yield of 70,000
more » ... /MeV, high stopping, and low radiation damage. Implementation of single-crystal SrI 2 (Eu), Gd-based transparent ceramics, and Biloaded plastic scintillators can advance the state-of-the art in ionizing radiation detection systems. Due to their availability in large sizes at low cost, plastic scintillators, generally based on Polyvinyltoluene, PVT, are used in many applications where a higher density material exhibiting a photopeak would be preferred. Recently, we reported that cm-scale Bismuth-loaded plastic scintillators can provide energy resolution of <9% at 662 keV [3] . Applications such as neutron-interrogation screening, in which a pulsed neutron source is used to produce capture gamma rays, require large scintillator detectors with modest energy resolution but fast timing. The Bi-loaded plastic is comprised of elements with low neutron activation, and offers adequate stopping and energy resolution for effective performance in this application. * cherepy1@llnl.gov; phone 925 424-3492
doi:10.1117/12.896656 fatcat:3uyhx7hvv5cnjo2huv5alccble