High Performance Glass Scintillators for Nuclear Physics Experiments

Scintillator materials are used to detect, analyze, and track photons and neutral particles The large volume electromagnetic calorimeters for the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) and those in all four halls at the Jefferson Lab are nuclear physics detectors requiring scintillator materials Crystals such as lead tungstate have been used in calorimeters, but their production is slow and expensive In comparison, glasses are much simpler and less expensive to produce and thus offer great potential for both cost reduction and wider application if competitive performance parameters can be achieved Early tests with transparent barium-silicate glass have shown good quality, fast response, and radiation hardness Due to the different properties, glass would require a 40 cm longitudinal dimension, but could be made to size for different detector regions Commercial glass furnaces can produce many tons of glass per day; therefore, production rates of tens of glass blocks per day should be achievable, thus greatly expediting the production process and reducing costs Development and testing of such glasses with high optical quality and uniformity is key for inexpensive calorimetry and high energy particle detection studies worldwide Major development objectives for glass scintillators in electromagnetic calorimeters include: Large block dimensions, free of macro defects, high light output, fast decay time, radiation resistance, and comparable in overall performance to PbWO4, Low cost, less than ~$2/cm3, compared to lead tungstate ($15-25/cm3) Phase I of this work will demonstrate the potential of these new materials and production technology through fabrication of larger scale samples and characterization of their performance The work will also address optimization of aspects of the technology that affect performance characteristics to support larger scale production in subsequent phases of the project The ability to manufacture novel high-performance glass scintillators will prove useful not only for electromagnetic calorimeters but also for homeland security applications where such scintillators would significantly reduce the false alarm rate in passive nuclear detection systems and allow for large range of deployment Fast response time and radiation hard glasses will find use in the scintillator market for security applications as active materials for radiation portal monitors, in particular, at ports where cargo screening with large throughput is required