Large size LSO and LYSO crystal scintillators for future high-energy physics and nuclear physics experiments

Abstract

The high energy and nuclear physics community is interested in fast bright heavy crystal scintillators, such as cerium-doped LSO and LYSO. An investigation is being carried out to explore the potential use of the LSO and LYSO crystals in future physics experiments. Optical and scintillation properties, including longitudinal transmittance, emission and excitation spectra, light output, decay kinetics and light response uniformity, were measured for three long (2.5×2.5×20 cm) LSO and LYSO samples from different vendors, and were compared to a long BGO sample of the same size. The degradation of optical and scintillation properties under γ-ray irradiations and the radiation-induced phosphorescence were also measured for two long LYSO samples. Possible applications for a crystal calorimeter in future high energy and nuclear physics experiments are discussed.