• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Alpha Spectra Inc

Scintillation Detectors since 1986

  • Standard Products
    • Standard Products Overview
    • Open Face Type
    • Integral Type
    • Demountable Type
    • Well Type
    • Thin Window / F.I.D.L.E.R.
    • Environmental Type
    • Ruggedized Type
    • Large Area
    • Large Volume
    • SiPM Designs
    • Accessories
  • Special & Custom
    • Custom Designs
    • Special Types
    • Standard Annular Type
    • Special Annular Type
    • BGO Annular Type
    • Low and Ultra-Low Background
  • Manufacturing
    • Detector Manufacturing
    • Capabilities
  • Applications
  • Support
    • Detector Design
    • Nomenclature
    • FAQ’s
    • Product Support and Troubleshooting Guide
    • Product Warranty
    • Warranty Returns
    • Evaluation and Repair Service
    • Other Services
    • PDF Library
    • Search
  • About
    • News and Events
    • History
    • President’s Message
    • Our Logo and Coat of Arms
    • Solar Eclipse Photos
  • Contact

Detector Design

Designing a scintillation detector to ensure optimal performance for a specific measurement can be a daunting task. There are numerous important variables that must be considered. The ASI scientific and engineering staff are experts in detector design and we are prepared to provide guidance to help you make these design decisions. Don’t hesitate to call or send an email to us at any time. To get started, let’s look at a few basic gamma detector design issues.

This discussion will help the customer prepare responses to basic design considerations that need to be resolved in order to build a detector that will meet your experimental requirements. Once this information is obtained contact us and we will provide the support required to complete the detector design process. The important components of a detector are:

  1. Crystal material
  2. Reflector
  3. Interface materials
  4. Light pipe
  5. Crystal housing
  6. Hermetic seal and light seal
  7. Photosensitive device selection
  8. Voltage divider and preamp.

We need the customer to provide valuable information to determine the appropriate crystal material, crystal housing material and selection of the photosensitive device. The design of the remaining components will be determined by the ASI design team.

To get started on a detector design, these basic questions must be considered:

  • What is the gamma-ray energy of interest? Are there multiple regions of interest?
  • How critical is it to obtain the best spectroscopic data? Is it only important to detect the presence of gamma radiation?
  • What is the expected count rate?
  • What is the desired counting time?
  • Is the size or shape of the detector constrained?
  • Will the detector be shielded?
  • Is the intrinsic background of the detector package important?
  • What are the environmental conditions where the detector will be used?
  • Will the detector experience thermal shock?
  • Will the detector be exposed to mechanical shock and vibration?
  • Is there an existing detector that is being used to provide measurements?

Once this information is gathered, or as much as possible, please contact us to help complete the detector design. ASI will work with the customer to arrive at an acceptable design. Then, once an order is placed our design engineer will create a formal sales drawing for the customer to review and sign off before our manufacturing process is initiated.

Additional technical information about scintillator materials and properties is provided below.

ASI Request for Quote and Detector Design Form

For an extensive write up on the scintillator technology consider reading the Book Chapter on Scintillators. 

ASI Scintillation Materials Data Sheet

Meeting the needs of the numerous applications we serve requires diverse capabilities. ASI offers many different scintillation detector materials to satisfy these requirements. Here’s a table listing what we offer.

Scintillator General Properties and Typical Applications

Scintillator Material Advantages Examples of Applications
NaI(Tl)1 Good light yield, best cost General counting, x-ray counting, dose calibration, commercial gauges, health physics, Compton Suppression, medical imaging, geophysical exploration, homeland security, dark matter experiments
CsI(Na)1 Good light yield, rugged Geophysical exploration, general counting
CsI(Tl)1 Non-hygroscopic, rugged Photodiodes, high energy physics, phoswiches
CsI(pure)1 Fast light output Calorimetry
BGO High density Geophysical exploration, general counting, Compton Suppression, geophysical exploration
CaF2(Eu) Non-hygroscopic, good light yield β detectors, special α – β phoswiches
CeBr3 Very good light yield, fast light output Geophysical exploration, hand held meters
LaCl3(Ce) Very good light yield, fast light output Geophysical exploration, hand held meters
6LiI(Eu) Good light yield, good neutron cross section Thermal neutron detection, gamma spectroscopy
6Li-glass Good neutron cross section, non-hygroscopic Thermal neutron detection
CdWO4 High density, low afterglow Photodiodes, high count rate x-ray scanners
BaF2 Very fast light output Fast timing, nuclear physics research
LYSO High density, fast light output General counting, commercial gauges
SrI2(Eu) Very Good light yield Hand held meters
Plastic Fast light output, low density, good light yield Screening monitors, particle detection, β monitors
Liquid Fast light output, low density, good light yield Nuclear physics research

1Materials currently grown at ASI.
2Materials in development at ASI.

Properties of Scintillation Detector Materials

Please note, you may need to rotate your mobile device to view the entire table below:

Scintillator
Material
Density
[g/cm3]
Hygroscopic Emission
Wavelength
[Max.]
Light Yield3
[NaI(Tl)=100]
[%]
Principal
Decay Constant
[µsec]4
Index of Refraction5
n
NaI(Tl)1 3.67 Yes 415 100 0.23 1.85
CsI(Na)1 4.51 Slightly 420 85 0.63 1.84
CsI(Tl)1 4.51 No 550 456 0.68 1.80
CsI(pure)1 4.51 No 315 4-6 0.016 1.95
BGO 7.133 No 480 20 0.3 2.15
CaF2(Eu) 3.18 No 435 50 0.9 1.44
CeBr3 5.07 Yes 380 155 0.019 2.09
LaCl3(Ce) 3.79 Yes 330/352 120 0.070/0.0003 1.81
6LiI(Eu)1 4.08 Yes 470 35 1.4 1.96
6Li-glass 2.6 No 390-430 4-6 0.060 1.56
CdWO4 7.90 No 480 30-50 20 2.20
BaF2 4.89 Yes 220/320 3/16 0.62/0.0006 1.47
LYSO 7.3 No 397 75 .00041 1.82
SrI2(Eu) 4.59 Yes ~430 ~210 ~0.003 1.85
Plastics 1.02 No 370 25-30 0.00141 1.58
Liquids 1.00 No 425 35-45 3.2 1.505

1Materials currently grown at ASI.
2 Materials currently in development at ASI.
3Light Yield: when coupled to a PMT with a Bialkilai photocathode at room temperature.
4At room temperature.
5At the maximum wavelength of emission.
6Best suited to be used with a photodiode due to wavelength mismatch with standard PMT.

Also, please note that ASI offers different radiopurity grades of material. Our cleanest radiopurity NaI(Tl) material called WIMPScint (link to WIMPScint data sheet) is used in several Dark Matter experiments around the world. Refer to our PDF data sheet and don’t hesitate to contact us for more details.

For more information regarding material properties please contact Alpha Spectra, Inc. Our design team will help you design a custom detector configuration to meet the needs of your measurement application.

Footer

Contact Us

Alpha Spectra, Inc.
715 Arrowest Court
Grand Junction, CO 81505
970-243-4477
800-231-2545

About Us

Alpha Spectra, Inc. is the largest American-owned Scintillation Detector Manufacturer.

Learn More

Search


OUR MATERIAL IS BRIGHTER… AND BRIGHTER IS BETTER

© 2020 Alpha Spectra, Inc.