Mechanical deformation effect on CsI(Tl) scintillators efficiency

Due to the technological limitations in scintillation crystal growth and machining afterwards, crystals always contain certain internal defects and nonuniform distribution of intrinsic stresses. This work is directed to study the effect of CsI(Tl) mechanical deformation on their scintillation efficiency. It is shown that light output changes depend on the type of deformation (shock, steady deformation) and crystallographic orientation of specimen. The value of the phenomenon reaches up to 20% of the CsI(Tl) light output. Stress relaxation is the reason for the scintillator light output recovery. For CsI(Tl) scintillator mechanical deformation effects on light output will significantly decrease in the first 7–10 days after application of the stress and might completely disappear within 30–40 days.