Applications of Novel Scintillators for Research and Industry (ANSRI 2015)

Abstract

Scintillator detectors are used widely in the field of γ- and X-ray spectroscopy, particularly in themid 1900s when the invention of NaI(Tl) by nobel laureate Robert Hofstadter in 1948, spurred thecreation of new scintillator materials. In the development of such new scintillators, importantcharacteristics such as its intrinsic efficiency, position sensitivity, robustness, energy and timingresponse, light output, etc, need to be addressed. To date, these requirements cannot be met by asingle type of scintillator alone and therefore the development of an ‘‘ideal’’ scintillator remains theholy grail of nuclear instrumentation. Consequently, the last two decades have seen significantprogress in the development of scintillator crystals, driven largely by technological advances.Conventional inorganic scintillators such as NaI(Tl) and BGO are now being replaced with better,novel organic, inorganic, ceramic and plastic scintillators offering a wider variety of options formany applications.The workshop on the Applications of Novel Scintillators in Research and Industry was held atUniversity College Dublin in January 2015 and covered a wide range of topics that characterisemodern advances in the field of scintillator technology. This set of proceedings covers areasincluding the growth, production and characterisation of such contemporary scintillators, along withtheir applications in various fields, such as; Medical Imaging; Defence/Security; Astrophysics; andNuclear/Particle Physics. We would like to thank all those who presented their recent results ontheir research at the workshop. These proceedings atest to the excitement and interest in such abroad field, that pervades the pursuit of the development of novel materials for future applications.We would also like to thank Professor Luigi Piro, for giving an interesting public talk during theconference, and to the Institute of Physics Ireland Group for supporting the event. We thankORTEC for sponsoring the Poster Prize and Science Foundation Ireland, Scionix, and the Instituteof Physics Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Industry and Materials and Characterisation groups forsponsoring the workshop. We also thank University College Dublin for use of the venue and generalsupport that was given during the workshop.Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Local Organising Commitee for their help inmaking the workshop a success, and to Dr. Sheila McBreen and Professor Lorraine Hanlon for theirhelp and support, particularly in putting these proceedings together. In addition to this we wouldalso like to recognise the contributions made by the Scientific Orgainising Committee for theiradvice regarding the organisation of the programme, which was engaging and stimulated a lot ofinterest amongst the audeince.