Abstract
Scintillator materials convert high-energy radiation into photons in the ultraviolet to visible light region for radiation detection. In this review, advances in X-ray emission dynamics of inorganic scintillators are presented, including inorganic halides (alkali-metal halides, alkaline-earth halides, rare-earth halides, oxy-halides, rare-earth oxyorthosilicates, halide perovskites), oxides (binary oxides, complex oxides, post-transition metal oxides), sulfides, rare-earth doped scintillators, and organic-inorganic hybrid scintillators. The origin of scintillation is strongly correlated to the host material and dopants. Current models are presented describing the scintillation decay lifetime of inorganic materials, with the emphasis on the short-lived scintillation decay component. The whole charge generation and the de-excitation process are analyzed in general, and an essential role of the decay kinetics is the de-excitation process. We highlighted three decay mechanisms in cross luminescence emission, exitonic emission, and dopant-activated emission, respectively. Factors regulating the origin of different luminescence centers controlling the decay process are discussed.
Highlights
The detection of X-rays and γ-rays is essential for many applications such as defense science, radiology security, industrial applications, high-energy physics, and biomedical research [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Scintillators are characterized for their decay time, light yield, and absorption coefficient
There are some disadvantages associated with the NaI(Tl) that limit its application despite very high light yield, such as hygroscopicity and low strength against mechanical and thermal shocks [29]
Summary
The detection of X-rays and γ-rays is essential for many applications such as defense science, radiology security, industrial applications, high-energy physics, and biomedical research [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Scintillators are characterized for their decay time, light yield (typically expressed in units of optical photons emitted per MeV of ionizing radiation absorbed), and absorption coefficient. Thallium activated NaI and CsI are among the most popular scintillators that have exhibited very high light yields [8,9], and their decay time is about ~200 ns. Transition-metal and lanthanide ions in crystals and solutions exhibit broad absorption bands in the UV region, due to transition caused by the transfer of an electron from a ligand to the incomplete d or f shell of the ions. While in the presence of lattice defects, the decay time is longer
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