Application of accelerators for the research and development of scintillators

Rev Sci Instrum. 2007 Aug;78(8):083303. doi: 10.1063/1.2777152.

Abstract

We introduce experimental systems which use accelerators to evaluate scintillation properties such as scintillation intensity, wavelength, and lifetime. A single crystal of good optical quality is often unavailable during early stages in the research and development (R&D) of new scintillator materials. Because of their beams' high excitation power and/or low penetration depth, accelerators facilitate estimation of the properties of early samples which may only be available as powders, thin films, and very small crystals. We constructed a scintillation spectrum measurement system that uses a Van de Graaff accelerator and an optical multichannel analyzer to estimate the relative scintillation intensity. In addition, we constructed a scintillation time profile measurement system that uses an electron linear accelerator and a femtosecond streak camera or a microchannel plate photomultiplier tube followed by a digital oscilloscope to determine the scintillation lifetimes. The time resolution is approximately 10 ps. The scintillation spectra or time profiles can be obtained in a significantly shorter acquisition time in comparison with that required by conventional measuring systems. The advantages of the systems described in this study can significantly promote the R&D of novel scintillator materials.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Particle Accelerators / instrumentation*
  • Radiation Dosage
  • Radiometry / instrumentation*
  • Radiometry / methods
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Research / instrumentation*
  • Research Design
  • Scintillation Counting / instrumentation*
  • Scintillation Counting / methods
  • Sensitivity and Specificity