Scintillation properties of lead sulfate

The material properties of lead sulfate (PbSO₄) are attractive for use as a gamma radiation detector. In 99.998% pure PbSO ₄ crystals at room temperature excited by 511-keV annihilation photons, the fluorescence decay lifetime contained significant fast components having 1.8-ns and 19-ns decay times, but with longer components having 95-ns and 425-ns decay times. The peak emission wavelength was 335 nm, which was transmitted by borosilicate glass window photomultiplier tubes. The total scintillation light output increased with decreasing temperature from 3200 photons/MeV at +45°C to 4900 photons/MeV at room temperature and 68500 photons/MeV at -145°C. In an imperfect, 3-mm cube of a naturally occurring mineral form of PbSO₄ (anglesite) at room temperature, a 511-keV photopeak was seen with a total light output of 60% that of BGO. There was significant sample-to-sample variation of the light output among anglesite samples