Growth and Characterization of Polycrystalline Lanthanide Halide Scintillators

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nuclear Instrumentation

Background:

• Lanthanide halide scintillators are crucial for radiation detection.
• Current production methods for large-volume scintillators can be costly and time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, efficient method for producing large-volume polycrystalline lanthanide halide scintillators.
• To characterize the structural and scintillation properties of these novel materials.

Main Methods:

• Hot Wall Evaporation (HWE) technique used for fabricating LaBr3:Ce and LaCl3:Ce films.
• Characterization using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD).
• Performance evaluation including light yield, energy resolution, response linearity, decay time, and afterglow.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated large-volume (20-25 cm³) polycrystalline LaBr3:Ce and LaCl3:Ce scintillators.
• Achieved bright emissions comparable to melt-grown crystals.
• Demonstrated good energy resolution and response linearity, though slightly lower than crystals.
• Confirmed columnar polycrystalline growth structures beneficial for light piping.

Conclusions:

• The HWE technique offers a rapid, cost-efficient route to large-volume scintillators with tunable properties.
• These novel scintillators approach the performance of traditional crystals.
• The technique enables applications requiring large scintillator volumes, such as medical imaging and security.