Scintillator Light Emission Enhancement via Nanostructure and Plasmonic Design

Recent work in the development of glass-ceramic scintillators at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has focused on modifying formulation of the oxide host glass and scintillating crystal phase, secondary heat treatment (ceramization) schedule, and processing improvement to ensure optical quality. These efforts have yielded considerable performance improvements to glass-ceramic scintillators, and have made them among the most promising composite scintillators under investigation. However, these materials still fall short of current commercially-available single crystal scintillators, and so new avenues must be pursued for continued improvements. The present investigation uses predictive simulations to inform the materials selection and process design for high refractive index layers to improve light extraction from the scintillator, and increased light output via bulk or surface plasmon interactions.