Date: Aug 09, 2010 Source: R&D Magazine (
click here to go to the source)
The identification of radionuclides vital to homeland security was the driving force behind a collaboration to develop the High-Performance Strontium Iodide Scintillator for Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn., Fisk University, Nashvile, Tenn., and Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., Watertown, Mass., teamed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop the new detector material, stronium-iodide doped with euporium (SrI2[Eu]), that gives the scintillator improved performance characteristics.
SrI2 enables the hightest resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy of any scintillator, passing the most-used thallium-doped sodium iodide (NaI[Tl]) and the higher performing, but costly, cerium-doped lanthanum bormide (LaBr3[Ce]). In the 200-keV region where special nuclear materials emit, SrI2 reduces false alarms by a factor of three when compared to LaBr3[Ce]. In addition, its crystals are easier to grow than LaBr3[Ce].
The scintillator can be used in a range of radiation sensors, from handheld devices to large portal monitors. It potentially can be used for medical, industrial, environmental, and other applications.
Technology
Gamma-ray scintillatorThe identification of radionuclides vital to homeland security was the driving force behind a collaboration to develop the High-Performance Strontium Iodide Scintillator for Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn., Fisk University, Nashvile, Tenn., and Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., Watertown, Mass., teamed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop the new detector material, stronium-iodide doped with euporium (SrI2[Eu]), that gives the scintillator improved performance characteristics.
SrI2 enables the hightest resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy of any scintillator, passing the most-used thallium-doped sodium iodide (NaI[Tl]) and the higher performing, but costly, cerium-doped lanthanum bormide (LaBr3[Ce]). In the 200-keV region where special nuclear materials emit, SrI2 reduces false alarms by a factor of three when compared to LaBr3[Ce]. In addition, its crystals are easier to grow than LaBr3[Ce].
The scintillator can be used in a range of radiation sensors, from handheld devices to large portal monitors. It potentially can be used for medical, industrial, environmental, and other applications.
Technology
Gamma-ray scintillator
