New type of scintillation detectors for biological, medical, and radiation monitoring applications

Scintillation detectors in the form of luminescent films on a bulk substrate have been developed and explored. Thin doped garnet films on the basis of Lu/sub 3/Al/sub 5/O/sub 12/ were grown on an undoped Y/sub 3/Al/sub 5/O/sub 12/ nonluminescent substrate for the application as X-ray imaging screens in microtomography. The introduction of Lu provided a strong absorption for X-rays and a possibility to reduce the film thickness down to 1 - 2 /spl mu/m and to achieve a spatial resolution of 0.8 to 1.2 /spl mu/m. Doped luminescent films of various materials with the thickness adapted to the path length of short-range particles, were grown or deposited on a doped luminescent substrate intended for detecting long-range particles. Such phoswich-detectors are used for radiation monitoring of low-activity nuclides. Ways to improve the operation characteristics of such detection systems are proposed.