Inorganic scintillators for detector systems: physical principles and crystal engineering

This second edition features new chapters highlighting advances in our understanding of the behavior and properties of scintillators, and the discovery of new families of materials with light yield and excellent energy resolution very close to the theoretical limit. The book focuses on the discovery of next-generation scintillation materials and on a deeper understanding of fundamental processes. Such novel materials with high light yield as well as significant advances in crystal engineering offer exciting new perspectives. Most promising is the application of scintillators for precise time tagging of events, at the level of 100 ps or higher, heralding a new era in medical applications and particle physics. Since the discovery of the Higgs Boson with a clear signature in the lead tungstate scintillating blocks of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter detector, the current trend in particle physics is toward very high luminosity colliders, in which timing performance will ultimately be essential to mitigating pile-up problems. New and extremely fast light production mechanisms based on Hot-Intraband-Luminescence as well as quantum confinement are exploited for this purpose. Breakthroughs such as crystal engineering by means of co-doping procedures and selection of cations with small nuclear fragmentation cross-sections will also pave the way for the development of more advanced and radiation-hard materials. Similar innovations are expected in medical imaging, nuclear physics ecology, homeland security, space instrumentation and industrial applications. This second edition also reviews modern trends in our understanding and the engineering of scintillation materials. Readers will find new and updated references and information, as well as new concepts and inspirations to implement in their own research and engineering endeavors.