The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 21, 2004
Filed:
Dec. 10, 2002
James Scott Vartuli, Rexford, NY (US);
Steven Jude Ductos, Clifton Park, NY (US);
Robert Joseph Lyons, Burnt Hills, NY (US);
Charles David Greskovich, Schenectady, NY (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides terbium or lutetium garnet x ray scintillators activated with a rare earth metal ion, such as cerium, and treated by annealing in a controlled atmosphere comprising a predetermined amount of oxygen for a predetermined time and temperature to reduce radiation damage that would otherwise occur when the scintillator material is exposed to high energy radiation, such as the type of radiation required to use the scintillator for medical radiographic imaging and the like. In an embodiment, a single crystal or a polycrystalline scintillator comprising the general formula (Tb Lu Ce ) Al O (where 0<×≦0.5, and y is in the range from about 0.0005 to about 0.2, and annealed at 1400° C. to 1500° C. in a controlled atmosphere comprising 1×10 to 0.22 atm oxygen shows an increased resistance to radiation damage.