Original lanthanum halide scintillators suffered significantly from internal alpha contamination due to 227Ac. As the effect of this contamination has been substantially reduced, and the crystal sizes have grown towards volumes that are useful for many applications, the effect of the gamma-, beta-, and x-ray-contamination due to 138La in these materials has risen to the foreground. This paper discusses and quantifies the current status of lanthanum halide contamination. Included are computer simulation results to breakdown contamination versus background contributions, and also comparisons with other internally-contaminated, commercially-available scintillators. Although the high resolution of the lanthanum halides holds great promise, it will clearly have to be evaluated for potential applications on a case-by-case basis.
Revised: October 23, 2006 |
Published: October 16, 2006
Citation
Milbrath B.D., J.I. McIntyre, R.C. Runkle, and L.E. Smith. 2006.Contamination Studies of LaCl3:Ce Scintillators.IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 53, no. 5:3031-3034.PNNL-SA-49271.