Light Extraction Enhancement Techniques for Inorganic Scintillators
Scintillators play a key role in the detection chain of several applications which rely on the use of ionizing radiation, and it is often mandatory to extract and detect the generated scintillation light as efficiently as possible. Typical inorganic scintillators do however feature a high index of r...
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doaj-13565fac5945494f95410b032b5a18392021-03-30T23:01:40ZengMDPI AGCrystals2073-43522021-03-011136236210.3390/cryst11040362Light Extraction Enhancement Techniques for Inorganic ScintillatorsFrancesco Gramuglia0Simone Frasca1Emanuele Ripiccini2Esteban Venialgo3Valentin Gâté4Hind Kadiri5Nicolas Descharmes6Daniel Turover7Edoardo Charbon8Claudio Bruschini9Advanced Quantum Architecture Lab (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 2002 Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandAdvanced Quantum Architecture Lab (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 2002 Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandAdvanced Quantum Architecture Lab (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 2002 Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandAdvanced Quantum Architecture Lab (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 2002 Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandNAPA-Technologies, 74160 Archamps, FranceNAPA-Technologies, 74160 Archamps, FrancePhotovoltaics and Thin Films Electronics Laboratories (PV-LAB), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 2002 Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandNAPA-Technologies, 74160 Archamps, FranceAdvanced Quantum Architecture Lab (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 2002 Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandAdvanced Quantum Architecture Lab (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 2002 Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandScintillators play a key role in the detection chain of several applications which rely on the use of ionizing radiation, and it is often mandatory to extract and detect the generated scintillation light as efficiently as possible. Typical inorganic scintillators do however feature a high index of refraction, which impacts light extraction efficiency in a negative way. Furthermore, several applications such as preclinical Positron Emission Tomography (PET) rely on pixelated scintillators with small pitch. In this case, applying reflectors on the crystal pixel surface, as done conventionally, can have a dramatic impact of the packing fraction and thus the overall system sensitivity. This paper presents a study on light extraction techniques, as well as combinations thereof, for two of the most used inorganic scintillators (LYSO and BGO). Novel approaches, employing Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBRs), metal coatings, and a modified Photonic Crystal (PhC) structure, are described in detail and compared with commonly used techniques. The nanostructure of the PhC is surrounded by a hybrid organic/inorganic silica sol-gel buffer layer which ensures robustness while maintaining its performance unchanged. We observed in particular a maximum light gain of about 41% on light extraction and 21% on energy resolution for BGO, a scintillator which has gained interest in the recent past due to its prompt Cherenkov component and lower cost.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/11/4/362coatinglight extractionnanostructureoptical interfacepacking fractionPET |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Francesco Gramuglia Simone Frasca Emanuele Ripiccini Esteban Venialgo Valentin Gâté Hind Kadiri Nicolas Descharmes Daniel Turover Edoardo Charbon Claudio Bruschini |
spellingShingle |
Francesco Gramuglia Simone Frasca Emanuele Ripiccini Esteban Venialgo Valentin Gâté Hind Kadiri Nicolas Descharmes Daniel Turover Edoardo Charbon Claudio Bruschini Light Extraction Enhancement Techniques for Inorganic Scintillators Crystals coating light extraction nanostructure optical interface packing fraction PET |
author_facet |
Francesco Gramuglia Simone Frasca Emanuele Ripiccini Esteban Venialgo Valentin Gâté Hind Kadiri Nicolas Descharmes Daniel Turover Edoardo Charbon Claudio Bruschini |
author_sort |
Francesco Gramuglia |
title |
Light Extraction Enhancement Techniques for Inorganic Scintillators |
title_short |
Light Extraction Enhancement Techniques for Inorganic Scintillators |
title_full |
Light Extraction Enhancement Techniques for Inorganic Scintillators |
title_fullStr |
Light Extraction Enhancement Techniques for Inorganic Scintillators |
title_full_unstemmed |
Light Extraction Enhancement Techniques for Inorganic Scintillators |
title_sort |
light extraction enhancement techniques for inorganic scintillators |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Crystals |
issn |
2073-4352 |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
Scintillators play a key role in the detection chain of several applications which rely on the use of ionizing radiation, and it is often mandatory to extract and detect the generated scintillation light as efficiently as possible. Typical inorganic scintillators do however feature a high index of refraction, which impacts light extraction efficiency in a negative way. Furthermore, several applications such as preclinical Positron Emission Tomography (PET) rely on pixelated scintillators with small pitch. In this case, applying reflectors on the crystal pixel surface, as done conventionally, can have a dramatic impact of the packing fraction and thus the overall system sensitivity. This paper presents a study on light extraction techniques, as well as combinations thereof, for two of the most used inorganic scintillators (LYSO and BGO). Novel approaches, employing Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBRs), metal coatings, and a modified Photonic Crystal (PhC) structure, are described in detail and compared with commonly used techniques. The nanostructure of the PhC is surrounded by a hybrid organic/inorganic silica sol-gel buffer layer which ensures robustness while maintaining its performance unchanged. We observed in particular a maximum light gain of about 41% on light extraction and 21% on energy resolution for BGO, a scintillator which has gained interest in the recent past due to its prompt Cherenkov component and lower cost. |
topic |
coating light extraction nanostructure optical interface packing fraction PET |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/11/4/362 |
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