CeBr/sub 3/ scintillators for gamma-ray spectroscopy

Author

Shah, Kanai S. ; Glodo, Jaroslaw ; Higgins, William ; Van Loef, Edgar V D ; Moses, William W. ; Derenzo, Stephen E. ; Weber, Marvin J.

Author_Institution

Radiat. Monitoring Devices Inc., Watertown, MA

Volume

52

Issue

6

fYear

2005

Firstpage

3157

Lastpage

3159

Abstract

In this paper, we report on a new scintillator, cerium bromide (CeBr₃), for gamma-ray spectroscopy. Crystals of this scintillator have been grown using Bridgman process. In this material Ce ³⁺ is an intrinsic constituent as well as a luminescence center for the scintillation process. Samples of CeBr₃ showed high light output (~68000 photons/MeV) and fast decay constant (~17 ns). Furthermore, they exhibited excellent energy resolution for gamma-ray detection. For example, energy resolution of <4% full width at half maximum (FWHM) has been achieved using this scintillator for 662 keV photons (¹³⁷Cs source) at room temperature. High timing resolution (<200 ps-FWHM) has been recorded with CeBr₃-photomultiplier (PMT) and BaF₂-PMT detectors operating in coincidence using 511 keV positron annihilation gamma-ray pairs

Keywords

coincidence techniques; crystal growth from melt; gamma-ray detection; gamma-ray spectroscopy; luminescence; photomultipliers; radioactive sources; solid scintillation detectors; ¹³⁷Cs source; BaF₂-PMT detectors; Bridgman process; CeBr₃ scintillators; CeBr₃-photomultiplier; cerium bromide; energy resolution; full width at half maximum; gamma-ray detection; gamma-ray spectroscopy; luminescence center; positron annihilation gamma-ray pairs; radiation detectors; Cerium; Crystalline materials; Energy resolution; Gamma ray detection; Gamma ray detectors; Luminescence; Photonic crystals; Solid scintillation detectors; Spectroscopy; Temperature; gamma-ray spectroscopy; radiation detectors; scintillators;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2005.860155

Filename

1589338