Characteristics of Un doped and Europium-dopedSrI2 Scintillator Detectors

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012

OSTI ID:1041085

Sturm, Benjamin ^[1]; Cherepy, Nerine ^[1]; Drury, Owen ^[1]; Thelin, P ^[1]; Fisher, S E ^[1]; O’Neal, S P ^[1]; Payne, Stephen A. ^[1]; Burger, Arnold ^[2]; Boatner, Lynn A ^[3]; Ramey, Joanne Oxendine ^[3]; Shah, Kanai ^[4]; Hawrami, Rastgo ^[2]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
2. Fisk University, Nashville, TN
3. ORNL
4. Radiation Monitoring Devices, Watertown, MA

High energy resolution gamma-ray detectors that can be formed into relatively large sizes while operating at room temperature offer many advantages for national security applications. We are working toward that goal through the development of SrI{sub 2}(Eu) scintillator detectors, which routinely provide <;3.0% energy resolution at 662 keV with volumes >;10 cm{sup 3}. In this study, we have tested pure, undoped SrI{sub 2} to gain a better understanding of the scintillation properties and spectroscopic performance achievable without activation. An undoped crystal grown from 99.999% pure SrI{sub 2} pellets was tested for its spectroscopic performance, its light yield, and uniformity of scintillation light collection as a function of gamma-ray interaction position relative to the crystal growth direction. Undoped SrI{sub 2} was found to provide energy resolution of 5.3% at 662 keV, and the light collection nonuniformity varied by only 0.72% over the length of the crystal. Measurements of both a 3% Eu-doped and the undoped SrI{sub 2} crystal were carried out in the SLYNCI facility and indicate differences in their light yield non-proportionality. The surprisingly good scintillation properties of the pure SrI{sub 2} crystal suggests that with high-purity feedstock, further reduction of the Eu concentration can be made to grow larger crystals while not adversely impacting the spectroscopic performance.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Work for Others (WFO)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1041085
• Resource Relation: Conference: IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Valencia, CA, USA, 20111023, 20111023
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CRYSTAL GROWTH
DOPED MATERIALS
ENERGY RESOLUTION
EUROPIUM
GAMMA DETECTION
NATIONAL SECURITY
PELLETS
PERFORMANCE
PHOSPHORS
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SCINTILLATIONS