ABSTRACT
Radiation damage of scintillation crystals is a typical process in which the energy of intrinsic electronic excitation is converted to lattice defects. The simplest way to create defects in solids is elastic or “knock-on” collisions of incident particle or quanta with a lattice atom or ion. The process of F-H pair creation is rather effective in pure crystals containing very small amounts of impurities and initial defects. Simple geometrical arguments may even work to explain how atomic displacements can influence the features of crystals. STEs formed by ionizing radiation in ionic crystals can decay radiatively or nonradiatively. The role of the halogen ion, which is heavier than the host halogen ions, in the defect formation process has been studied in a number of alkali halides. Experiments carried out with nanosecond electron pulses do not allow the reader to study the initial stage of the F-H pair creation.
