This second edition features new chapters highlighting advances in our understanding of the behavior and properties of scintillators, and the discovery of new families of materials with light yield and excellent energy resolution very close to the theoretical limit. The book focuses on the discovery of next-generation scintillation materials and on a deeper understanding of fundamental processes. Such novel materials with high light yield as well as significant advances in crystal engineering offer exciting new perspectives. Most promising is the application of scintillators for precise time tagging of events, at the level of 100 ps or higher, heralding a new era in medical applications and particle physics. Since the discovery of the Higgs Boson with a clear signature in the lead tungstate scintillating blocks of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter detector, the current trend in particle physics is toward very high luminosity colliders, in which timing performance will ultimately be essential to mitigating pile-up problems. New and extremely fast light production mechanisms based on Hot-Intraband-Luminescence as well as quantum confinement are exploited for this purpose. Breakthroughs such as crystal engineering by means of co-doping procedures and selection of cations with small nuclear fragmentation cross-sections will also pave the way for the development of more advanced and radiation-hard materials. Similar innovations are expected in medical imaging, nuclear physics ecology, homeland security, space instrumentation and industrial applications. This second edition also reviews modern trends in our understanding and the engineering of scintillation materials. Readers will find new and updated references and information, as well as new concepts and inspirations to implement in their own research and engineering endeavors.

The development of new scintillators as components of modern detector systems is increasingly defined by the end user's needs. This book provides an introduction to this emerging topic at the interface of physics and materials sciences, with emphasis on bulk inorganic scintillators. After surveying the end user's needs in a vast range of applications, ranging from astrophysics to industrial R and D, the authors move on to review scintillating mechanisms and the properties of the most important materials used. A chapter on crystal engineering and examples of recent developments in the field of high-energy physics and medical imaging introduce the reader to the practical aspects. This book will benefit researchers and scientists working in academic and industrial R and D related to the development of scintillators.

The development of new scintillators as components of modern detector systems is increasingly defined by the end user's needs. This book provides an introduction to this emerging topic at the interface of physics and materials sciences, with emphasis on bulk inorganic scintillators. After surveying the end user's needs in a vast range of applications, ranging from astrophysics to industrial R and D, the authors move on to review scintillating mechanisms and the properties of the most important materials used. A chapter on crystal engineering and examples of recent developments in the field of high-energy physics and medical imaging introduce the reader to the practical aspects. This book will benefit researchers and scientists working in academic and industrial R and D related to the development of scintillators.

During the last ten to fifteen years, researchers have made considerable progress in the study of inorganic scintillators. New scintillation materials have been investigated, novel scintillation mechanisms have been discovered, and additional scintillator applications have appeared. Demand continues for new and improved scintillation materials for a variety of applications including nuclear and high energy physics, astrophysics, medical imaging, geophysical exploration, radiation detection, and many other fields. However, until now there have been no books available that address in detail the complex scintillation processes associated with these new developments. Now, a world leader in the theory and applications of scintillation processes integrates the latest scientific advances of scintillation into a new work, Physical Processes in Inorganic Scintillators. Written by distinguished researcher Piotr Rodnyi, this volume explores this challenging subject, explains the complexities of scintillation from a modern point of view, and illuminates the way to the development of better scintillation materials. This unique work first defines the fundamental physical processes underlying scintillation and governing the primary scintillation characteristics of light output, decay time, emission spectrum, and radiation hardness. The book then discusses the complicated mechanisms of energy conversion and transformation in inorganic scintillators. The section on the role of defects in energy transfer and scintillation efficiency will be of special interest. Throughout, the author does not offer complicated derivations of equations but, instead, presents useful equations with practical results.

This second open access volume of the handbook series deals with detectors, large experimental facilities and data handling, both for accelerator and non-accelerator based experiments. It also covers applications in medicine and life sciences. A joint CERN-Springer initiative, the "Particle Physics Reference Library" provides revised and updated contributions based on previously published material in the well-known Landolt-Boernstein series on particle physics, accelerators and detectors (volumes 21A, B1,B2,C), which took stock of the field approximately one decade ago. Central to this new initiative is publication under full open access

The Theory and Practice of Scintillation Counting is a comprehensive account of the theory and practice of scintillation counting. This text covers the study of the scintillation process, which is concerned with the interactions of radiation and matter; the design of the scintillation counter; and the wide range of applications of scintillation counters in pure and applied science. The book is easy to read despite the complex nature of the subject it attempts to discuss. It is organized such that the first five chapters illustrate the fundamental concepts of scintillation counting. Chapters 6 to 10 detail the properties and applications of organic scintillators, while the next four chapters discuss inorganic scintillators. The last two chapters provide a review of some outstanding problems and a postscript. Nuclear physicists, radiation technologists, and postgraduate students of nuclear physics will find the book a good reference material.