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Novel radiation surveillance technology could help thwart nuclear terrorism
Date:5/1/2012

and subatomic particles emitted by nuclear material. When gamma rays or particles strike a scintillation detector, they create light flashes that are converted to electrical pulses to help identify the radiation at hand. In a solid-state detector, incoming gamma rays or particles register directly as electrical pulses.

"Each reaction to a gamma ray takes a very short time a fraction of a microsecond," Wagner said. "By looking at the number and the intensity of the pulses, along with other factors, we can make informed judgments about the type of radioactive material we're dealing with."

But both approaches have drawbacks. A scintillation detector requires a large crystal grown from sodium iodide or other materials. Such crystals are typically fragile, cumbersome, difficult to produce and extremely vulnerable to humidity.

A germanium-based solid-state detector offers better identification of different kinds of nuclear materials. But high-purity single-crystal germanium is difficult to make in a large volume; the result is less-sensitive devices with reduced ability to detect radiation at a distance. Moreover, germanium must be kept extremely cold 200 degrees below zero Celsius -- to function properly, which poses problems for use in the field.

The Nanoscale Advantage

To address these problems, the GTRI team has been investigating a wide variety of alternative materials and methodologies. After selecting the scintillation approach over solid-state, the researchers developed a composite material -- composed of nanoparticles of rare-earth elements, halides and oxides -- capable of creating light.

"A nanopowder can be much easier to make, because you don't have to worry about producing a single large crystal that has zero imperfections," Wagner said.

A scintillator crystal must be transparent to light, he explained, a quality that's key to its ability to detect radiation. A perfect crysta
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Contact: John Toon
jtoon@gatech.edu
404-894-6986
Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
Source:Eurekalert  

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