Characterization of CsI(Na) crystal using ionoluminescence microscopy technique.

It is well known that scintillator performance, especially its energy resolution, is highly dependent on its homogeneity which is determined through its growth process. Therefore, examination and quality control of synthesized scintillators is an important step towards their improvement. Ionoluminescence (IL) microscopy is a highly sensitive and non-destructive technique which can reveal the texture, chemical composition and distribution of trace elements in the inhomogeneous specimens. In this research work, IL microscopy technique is employed for the first time to provide images of two synthesized CsI(Na) crystals. The results show that IL microscopy is not only capable of determining the distribution of the total luminescence emitted from each point, but can also determine it for individual luminescence bands, which represents special luminescence centers in the sample. Therefore, IL microscopy is introduced as a high potential technique for effective characterization of scintillators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]