Luminescence Properties of and Single Crystal Scintillators Under X-Ray Excitation for Use in Medical Imaging Systems

The luminescence of : (LYSO:Ce) and (GSO:Ce) crystals was studied for use in tomographic medical x-ray imaging. LYSO:Ce and GSO:Ce are high density (7.1 and 6.71 respectively), high atomic number (71 for Lu and 64 for Gd), non-hydroscopic, and short decay time (40 ns and 60 ns respectively) scintillators. Evaluation was performed by determining: 1) the luminescence efficiency (LE) (emitted light energy flux over incident x-ray energy flux) in x-ray energies employed in general x-ray imaging (40-140 kVp) and in mammographic x-ray imaging (22-49 kVp), 2) the light emission spectrum, determined at various x-ray en- ergies (22-140 kVp), and 3) the spectral compatibility to optical photon detectors, incorporated in medical imaging systems. Both scintillation materials exhibited adequately high LE in the x-ray diagnostic energy range, with LYSO:Ce's LE being distinctively higher. LYSO:Ce and GSO:Ce were found most compatible with the S-20 photocathode (0.9 for both materials) and adequately compatible to the amorphous silicon photodiode (0.74 for both materials), incorporated in many digital x-ray detectors.