Prospects for dense, infrared emitting scintillators

The authors present results from an ongoing search for inorganic scintillators for x- and gamma-ray detection. They measure the scintillation properties (luminous efficiency, decay time, and emission wavelength) of powdered samples excited by brief x-ray pulses. To find scintillators that are compatible with silicon photodetectors, they have tested over 1,100 samples using a photomultiplier tube with a GaAs:Cs photocathode, which is sensitive to 200--950 nm emissions. Optical filters are used to block emissions that are observable with bialkali PMTs. Several lanthanide and transition metal ions, molecular complexes, and II-VI compounds are known to have strong emissions at wavelengths > 500 nm. They find that several compounds exhibit emission intensities comparable to commercial phosphors in the 600--900 nm range, including Eu and Sm doped LuPO4, ScPO4, and YPO4. Significant emissions are also observed from Tb, Dy, Er, Pr, and Tm doped phosphates, as well as several intrinsic compounds, notably Hg2Cl2. Scintillation characteristics of promising compounds (in powdered or small crystal form) are presented