An Efficient and Practical Method for New Bright Scintillator Searching

75173B Current scintillator materials do not fully satisfy the requirements for high and intermediate energy particle/photon detection, needed to support the monitoring and verification of the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty and other international arms control agreements. Due to intrinsic deficiencies in scintillation properties or difficulties in materials fabrication, next generation scintillators must have brighter scintillation, higher resolution, faster response, larger detection area, and lower cost. This project will utilize a low cost, comprehensive searching/screening method to develop a bright scintillator/bulk material system with optimized doping concentration, low scattering induced loss, and improved optical and scintillation characteristics. In Phase I, nanopowders of various scintillator material systems were synthesized using sol-gel and co-precipitation processes. Combinatorial studies of perovskite, garnet, and other ceramic scintillator systems demonstrated satisfactory light emitting and transmitting characteristics. Phase II will optimize the excitation and emission characteristics of the scintillator in order to maximize the performance at the lowest possible cost. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: A new generation of bright scintillation materials should greatly benefit DOE¿s high energy missions, such as high energy particle detection (heavy ions, electrons, and nuclei) and intermediate energy phonon imaging (UV-radiation, X- and Gamma- rays, and Beta-particles). The technology also should find use in homeland security, nondestructive testing, and medical radiography applications.