Scintillation properties of Lu₂Si₂O₇:Ce³⁺, a fast and efficient scintillator crystal

Cerium doped lutetium pyrosilicate Lu₂Si₂O₇:Ce³⁺ (LPS), a new inorganic scintillator, displays particularly promising performance. This material can be readily pulled from the melt. A high light output (average value: 26 300 ph MeV⁻¹), a relatively good energy resolution (9%) and a fast decay time (38 ns) without afterglow make this new scintillator very attractive, in particular for medical imaging. Optical characterizations and scintillation properties of LPS:Ce large single crystals are presented, including timing properties and study of the scintillation yields as a function of incident energy.