Inorganic Scintillators for Detector Systems

Thelasttwodecadeshaveseenaspectacularincreaseofinterestforinorganic scintillators. Thishasbeentoalargepartaconsequenceofthevisibilitygiven to this ?eld by several large crystal-based detectors in particle physics. To answer the very challenging requirements for these experiments (huge data rates, linearity of response over a large dynamic range, harsh radiation en- ronment, impressive crystal quantities to be produced in a short time period andatana?ordablecost,etc...)ane?ortofcoordination was needed. S- eral groups of experts working in di?erent aspects of material science have combinedtheire?ortsininternationalandmultidisciplinarycollaborationsto better understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying the scintillation processanditse?ciency. Similarly,thestabilityofthescintillationproperties andtheroleofcolorcentershasbeenextensivelystudiedtodevelop radiation hard scintillators. Dedicated conferences on inorganic scintillators have seen an increasing participation from di?erent communities of users outside the domain of high-energy physics. This includes nuclear physics, astrophysics, security systems, industrial applications, and medical imaging.
This last - main in particular is growing very fast since a few years at the point that the volume of scintillating crystals to be produced for positron emission tom- raphy (PET) is going to exceed the one for high-energy physics. As more and more crystal producers are also attending these conferences, a very fruitful synergy was progressively built up among scienti?c experts, technologists, and end users. This aspect of a multidisciplinary collaboration is essential to helppeopledesignandbuilddetectorsofever-increasingperformancethrough the choice, optimization or development of the best scintillator, and a th- ough investigation of the technologies to produce the crystals of the highest quality.