The project Scin^TAX developed novel thin scintillating films for the application in high performance X-ray imaging and subsequent introduced new X-ray detectors to the market. To achieve this aim lutetium orthosilicate (LSO) scintillators doped with different activators were grown successfully by liquid phase epitaxy. The high density of LSO (7.4 g/cm3), the effective atomic number (65.2) and the high light yield make this scintillator highly applicable for indirect X-ray detection in which the ionizing radiation is converted into visible light and then registered by a digital detector. A modular indirect detection system has been developed to fully exploit the potential of this thin film scintillator for radiographic and tomographic imaging. The system is compatible for high-resolution imaging with moderate dose as well as adaptable to intense high-dose applications where radiation hard microimaging detectors are required. This proceedings article shall review the achieved performances and technical details on this high-resolution detector system which is now available. A selected example application demonstrates the great potential of the optimized detector system for hard X-ray microimaging, i.e. either to improve image contrast due to the availability of efficient thin crystal films or to reduce the dose to the sample.

Date Published: 5 September 2014
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 9213, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XVI, 921312 (5 September 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2060599

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9213:
Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XVI
Arnold Burger; Larry Franks; Ralph B. James; Michael Fiederle, Editor(s)