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Application of the Combinatorial Synthesis and Laser-Heated Pedestal Growth Techniques to the Development of New Scintillator Materials--Lasergenics Corporation, 6830 Via Del Oro, Suite 103, San Jose, CA 95119-1353; 408-363-9791
Dr. Sandor Erdei, Principal Investigator
Dr. Richard Schlecht, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-99ER82811
Amount: $99,915
Future nuclear and
high energy physics experiments will use scintillators that must have greater time and energy resolution, higher radiation hardness, and larger crystal sizes than exist today. Currently, the materials that are closest to meeting the needs of DOE and other users are silicates doped with cerium. This project will apply techniques of combinatorial synthesis and laser-heated pedestal growth (LHPG) to a wide variety of silicates to search for and develop new scintillator materials with improved performance and greater crystal size. These techniques allow thousands of sample compositions to be surveyed in a short time. In Phase I, a combinatorial synthesis system will be used to synthesize over 1000 integrated materials chips that will be screened to determine which compositions are the most attractive for DOE nuclear experiments. These compositions will be grown in fiber form using the LHPG method to determine if crystals of large size can be grown, and if they will meet the needs of the users.Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: New scintillator materials having faster response times, higher energy resolution, greater radiation hardness, and greater physical size should find application in nuclear and high energy physics, medical diagnostics (e.g. XCT and PET equipment), industrial measurement, security inspections, and in the search for natural resources such as oil, gas and uranium.