Cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate: a fast, efficient new scintillator

A new single-crystal inorganic scintillator, cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate (Lu/sub 2(1-x)/)Ce/sub 2x/(SiO/sub 4/)O or LSO, which has a number of advantages over existing scintillators has recently been discovered. It has a scintillation emission intensity which is approximately 75% of Na(Tl) with a decay time of approximately 40 ns. The peak emission wavelength is 420 nm. It has a very high gamma-ray detection efficiency due to its density of 7.4 g/cm/sup 3/ and its effective atomic number of 66. Its radiation length of 1.14 cm is only slightly longer than that of BGO (1.12 cm). Due to its unique combination of high emission intensity, speed, and high density and atomic number, LSO appears to be an attractive candidate for diverse applications, including medical imaging, high-energy physics experiments, and geophysical exploration.<>