A High Performance Scintillator for Gamma Ray Spectroscopy

The goal of this proposal is to produce and initiate the commercial launch of a nextgeneration radiation detector scintillator with very high sensitivity and energy resolution.The chemical and crystalline composition of this detector material is unique in providing exceptionally high energy resolution and allowing for easy growth of large crystals.The high performance of these detectors will enhance the effectiveness of nuclear proliferation monitoring, homeland security, monitoring of nuclear stockpiles, and industrial and medical contamination monitoring.Their low production cost will significantly increase the affordability of high performance detection equipment to homeland security, first response teams, and environmental and contamination control organizations.The proposed effort leverages our success in materials purification and crystal growth techniques to develop a reproducible process for the growth of 1-1.5-in diameter highperformance scintillator crystals.This program seeks to develop a commercially-viable process with concise control of purification and crystal growth parameters to reliably produce crystals as large as 3-in diameter with superior performance.We will also continue to pursue pathways for improving the radiation detection performance of the scintillators and will integrate these findings into the production process.The field performance of the detectors will be demonstrated through incorporation into a commercial Radiation Isotope Identification Device (RIID).The success of this program will result in the availability of large-volume, highperformance detectors at half the price of the high performance scintillators that can be only produced in smaller sizes.Large-volume, low-cost, robust, high-resolution scintillators are well-suited for a number of commercial applications, including monitoring of nuclear power plants and contamination that may ensue from them, isotope identification in medical waste from radiation diagnostic and therapy activities, and bore-hole examination of geological formations in petroleum and mining industries.