Lutetium Oxide (Lu2O3:Eu)
Lutetium Oxide scintillator was developed as a joint RMD/ALEM effort, first as a Transparent Optical Ceramic (TOC) and more recently as a deposited film. Lu2O3:Eu has excellent material properties including high density (9.5 g/cm3, highest among known scintillators) and high effective atomic number (Zeff=63). With a light yield of 48,000 photons/MeV and a peak emission in the red at 610 nm, it has excellent potential for X-ray imaging over a range from a few KeV to several MeV.
Lu2O3:Eu scintillation films can be deposited in either columnar format or amorphous crystalline format depending on the application requirements. Films up to 55 µm can be grown for increased stopping power, while the columns provide enhanced spatial resolution.