CERIUM-DOPED LUTETIUM OXYORTHOSILICATE - A FAST, EFFICIENT NEW SCINTILLATOR

We have recently discovered a new single crystal inorganic scintillator, cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate (Lu2(1-x)Ce2x(SiO4)O or "LSO"), which has a number of advantages over existing scintillators.1 It has a scintillation emission intensity which is approximately 75% of NaI(Tl) with a decay time of approximately 40 ns. The peak emission wavelength is 420 nm. It has a very high gamma-ray detection efficiency due to its density of 7.4 g/cm3 and its effective atomic number of 66. Its radiation length of 1.14 cm is only slightly longer than BGO (1.12 cm). Due to its unique combination of high emission intensity, speed, and high density and atomic number, LSO appears to be an attractive candidate for diverse applications including medical imaging, high energy physics experiments, and geophysical exploration.