Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd.

Naoaki Shimura

Kazuhisa Kurashige

Tatsuya Usui

Hiroyuki Ishibashi

Yasushi Kurata

Keiji Sumiya

Shigenori Shimizu

Kazuhiro Yoshida

Nachimuthu Senguttuvan

Akihiro Gunji

Kenzou Susa

Mitsushi Kamada

The scintillator single crystal of the invention comprises a cerium-activated orthosilicate compound represented by the following general formula (1). The scintillator single crystal of the invention exhibits improved scintillation properties by reduced segregation between elements in the crystal ingot.LmLnLuCeSiO&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)(Wherein Lm represents at least one element selected from among Sc and Y and lanthanoid elements with lower atomic numbers than Lu, Ln represents at least one element selected from among Sc, Y, B, Al, Ga and In and lanthanoid elements with ion radii intermediate between Lm and Lu, x represents a value of greater than zero and no greater than 0.5, y represents a value of greater than 1 and less than 2, and z represents a value of greater than zero and no greater than 0.1.).

Scintillator single crystal, heat treatment method for production of scintillator single crystal, and method for production of scintillator single crystal

A single crystal heat treatment method having a step of heating a single crystal of a specific cerium-doped silicate compound in an oxygen-poor atmosphere at a temperature T(units: &#xb0; C.) that satisfies the conditions represented by formula (3) below800&#x2266;&#x3c;(&#x2212;550)&#x2003;&#x2003;(3)

Single crystal heat treatment method

A single crystal for a scintillator that is a specific single crystal of a cerium-activated orthosilicate compound that comprises 0.00005 to 0.1 wt. %, based on the entire weight of the single crystal, of at least one element selected from a group consisting of elements belonging to Group 13 of the periodic table.

Single crystal for scintillator and method for manufacturing same

A scintillator single crystal of a specific cerium-doped silicate compound that contains 0.00005 to 0.1 wt % of one or more types of element selected from the group consisting of elements belonging to group 2 of the periodic table based on the total weight of the single crystal.

Scintillator single crystal and production method of same

The present invention provides a single crystal heat treatment method, having a step of heating a single crystal of a cerium-doped silicate compound represented by any of general formulas (1) to (4) below in an oxygen-containing atmosphereYLnCeSiO&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)

The inorganic scintillator of the invention is an inorganic scintillator capable of producing scintillation by radiation, which is a crystal comprising a metal oxide containing Lu, Gd, Ce and Si and belonging to space group C2/c monoclinic crystals, and which satisfies the condition specified by the following inequality (1A), wherein Arepresents the number of Lu atoms in the crystal and Arepresents the number of Gd atoms in the crystal.{/()}&#x3c;0.50&#x2003;&#x2003;(1A)

Inorganic scintillator and process for its fabrication

The inorganic scintillator of the invention is an inorganic scintillator capable of producing scintillation by radiation, which is a crystal comprising a metal oxide containing Lu, Gd, Ce and Si and belonging to space group C2/c monoclinic crystals, and which simultaneously satisfies the conditions specified by the following inequalities (1) and (2).{/()}&#x3c;0.50&#x2003;&#x2003;(1){/()}&#x2267;0.002&#x2003;&#x2003;(2)wherein Arepresents the number of Lu atoms in the crystal, Arepresents the number of Gd atoms in the crystal, and Arepresents the number of Ce atoms in the crystal.

Inorganic scintillator

The inorganic scintillator of the invention has the chemical composition represented by CeLnSiO(where Ln represents at least two elements selected from among Y, Gd and Lu. 0.001&#x2266;x&#x2266;0.1, 1.9&#x2266;y&#x2266;2.1, 0.9&#x2266;z&#x2266;1.1, 4.9&#x2266;u&#x2266;5.1) and emits fluorescence upon incidence of radiation, wherein the maximum peak wavelength in the intensity spectrum of the emitted fluorescence is a peak in the range between 450 nm and 600 nm.

Inorganic scintillator, and radiation detector and PET apparatus employing it

The present invention provides an inorganic scintillator including a matrix material comprising a metal oxide, and a luminescence center made of Ce contained in the matrix material, the inorganic scintillator being adapted to scintillate in response to a radiation; wherein the matrix material further comprises a dopant having a tetravalent ionization energy I [kJ&#xb7;mol] satisfying the condition represented by the following expression (1):3000&#x2266;I&#x2266;3500. &#x2003;&#x2003;(1)

This invention provides an inorganic scintillator capable of producing scintillation by radiation, which is a crystal comprising metal oxides including Lu, Gd, Ce and Si, which satisfies the condition specified by the following inequality (1A):0.0025&#x2266;{/()}&#x2266;0.025,&#x2003;&#x2003;(1A)and which has an absorption coefficient of no greater than 0.500 cmfor light with a wavelength of 415 nm.

When produced as a single crystal ingot, a rare earth silicate single crystalcan be formed by cutting out from the single crystal ingot. The single crystalhas a crystal face Fwhose Miller indices can be determined by X-ray diffraction. The crystal face Fis composed of a plurality of smooth partial region surfaces (for example, the partial region surface fA and partial region surface fB), the plurality of partial region surfaces each have an area detectable by X-ray diffraction, and the angles &#x3b8; formed between the normal vectors of the plurality of partial region surfaces satisfy the following inequality:0.1&#xb0;&#x2266;&#x3b8;&#x2266;2.0&#xb0;.&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)

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Hitachinaka, Japan

Naoaki Shimura