ABSTRACT
Inorganic scintillators depend primarily on the crystalline energy band structure of the material for the scintillation mechanism. Materials that scintillate are generally separated into classes, namely inorganic and organic. The method by which either produces scintillation light is physically different, hence the distinction. Inorganic scintillators can be found as crystalline, polycrystalline, or microcrystalline materials. A typical scintillation spectrometer consists of a scintillating material hermetically sealed in an internally light-reflecting canister. The emission spectrum is largely affected by the band-gap energy of the scintillator and the energy levels of the activator. The radiation absorption efficiency is a strong function of the atomic number, density of the material constituents. The “minimalist model” uses numerous simplifying assumptions to arrive at a manageable model. Foremost, it is assumed that luminous emissions are produced solely from exciton recombination at luminous defect centers. The energy resolution of a radiation spectrometer is defined as the full width of the spectroscopic energy peak at half the maximum intensity.
