What are the ideal properties of scintillation materials?

The perfect scintillator should be dense, bright and fast. Dense means high density and high atomic number ≳ 5 g/cm3, which increases the probability of a gamma-ray interaction. The denser the scintillator, the more efficient it is at stopping gamma rays.

What is BGO detector?

The Bismuth Germanium Oxide (BGO) detector at LUNA An important tool for the detection of (p,γ) reactions at LUNA is a BGO detector [1]. BGO efficiently absorbs gamma rays thanks to its density and the large atomic number of bismuth. Its scintillation properties allow the subsequent detection of the absorbed radiation.

What are scintillation detectors used for?

Scintillation detectors are used for the determination of the high-energy part of the X-ray spectrum. In scintillation detectors the material of the detector is excited to luminescence (emission of visible or near-visible light photons) by the absorbed photons or particles.

What kind of scintillation material is BGO?

BGO Bismuth Germanate Scintillation Material. Bismuth Germanate (BGO) is a high Z, high density scintillation material with chemical composition Bi4Ge3O12. Due to the high atomic number of bismuth (83) and its high density, BGO is a very effi- cient γ-ray absorber. BGO is a relatively hard, rugged, non-hygroscopic crystal which does not cleave.

Why are BGO scintillation crystals used in PET scanners?

Due to the high Z value of the material, the photofraction for γ-ray absorption is high; and BGO scintillation crystals are used in applications where a high photofraction is required (for example, PET scanners) or because of its high detection efficiency (for example, Compton suppression spectrometers).

Why is BGO a good gamma ray absorber?

Due to the high atomic number of bismuth (83) and the material’s high density of 7.13 g/cm3, BGO is a very efficient gamma-ray absorber. Given the high Z value of the material, the photo fraction for gamma-ray absorption is high and as a result, very good peak-to-total ratios are observed.

How are BGO scintillating crystals used in dark matter detection?

It is worth noting that the BGO scintillating crystals as the direct medium for the possible annihilation of dark matter (energetic electrons and gamma rays) play an important role in the dark matter detection.