A few pieces of different scintillators enclosed in quartz cuvettes. The photograph of the top row was obtained under fluorescent tube lighting, while the bottom row shows the same samples under UV 254 nm Hg illumination.

The Scintillation Engineering Laboratory (SEL) is focused on the discovery of new scintillators, the optimization of scintillators through suitable chemical addition or modification of their composition, as well as synthesis strategies. The fundamental physics phenomena underlying the scintillation process, including the role of defects, are a focus of SEL work as well. While most of the work considers primarily inorganic scintillators, recent expansion is focused also on organic and water-based scintillators as well as composites. 

Pulsed X-ray decay of Tl2LaCl5:Ce single crystals as a function of the temperature.

The SEL is equipped with a wide range of instrumentation for the optical and the scintillation characterization of these materials (from photo- and radio-luminescence – both time and temperature resolved – to thermo-luminescence and scintillation pulse height analog and digital acquisition systems). Synthesis of powder and growth of single crystal is also done through the use of multiple furnaces and crystal growth furnaces (Bridgman-Stockbarger, Czochralski, micro-pulling down).

Current research thrusts include the development of new luminescent radiation detector materials, and the exploration of fundamental energy loss mechanisms to improve the fabrication and performance of scintillation detectors and enable ultrafast (e.g., sub-picosecond) timing.