abstract |
The invention relates to an inorganic rare-earth iodide scintillation material of formula A X Ln (y−y′,) Ln′ y′ I (x+3y) in which: A represents at least one element selected among Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs; Ln represents at least one first rare-earth element selected among La, Gd, Y, Lu, said first rare-earth element having a valency of 3+ in the aforementioned formula: Ln′ represents at least one second rare-earth element selected among Ce, Tb, Pr, said second rare-earth element having a valency of 3+ in the aforementioned formula, x is an integer and represents 0, 1, 2 or 3; y is an integer or non-integer greater than 0 and less than 3, and; y′ is an integer or non-integer greater than 0 and less than y. This material presents a high stopping power, a rapid decay time, in particular, less than 100 ns, a good energy resolution (in particular, less than 6% at 662 keV) and a high luminous level. This material can be used in nuclear medicine equipment, in particular, in Anger-type gamma cameras and in positron emission tomography scanners. |