A STUDY OF THE PROPERTIES OF BISMUTH-GERMANATE FOR THE DETECTION OF PHOTONS

We present first results on the properties of Chinese bismuth germanate for detection of photons. 12% light output relative to NaI(T1) with energy resolution AE/E=14%/E(MeV)~(1/2) was measured for a 23×23×2mm~3 crystal. The linearity between the light output and the energy of incoming photons is good. The fluorescence decay time is about 0.3μs at room temperature. Temperature effects were also studied.