Temperature properties of scintillators for PET detectors: A comparative study

In the comparative measurements, done in the same experimental conditions, various samples of NaI:Tl, CsI:Na, BGO, GSO, LSO, LuAG:Pr, LaBr₃ and GAGG scintillators were tested. The temperature dependence of the light output, energy resolution and decay time constants of the light pulses were measured over the temperature range of -30 to 50 °C. The XP2020 photomultiplier was used with two different dividers: one optimized for light output and energy resolution measurement and the other one for the decay time constant. In the study of the light output the number of photoelectrons per energy unit (phe/MeV) was measured using Bertolaccini method. The light pulse shape was taken using the anode signal recorded by a digital oscilloscope triggered by a single channel analyzer set on 662 keV energy.