Scintillation detector

A detector that converts energy deposited by ionizing radiation into flashes of light, which are collected and converted into electrical signals for measurement.

Scintillation: The emission of brief flashes of light when certain materials absorb energy from radiation or other excitations. The detector’s first step is producing light in response to deposited radiation energy.
Scintillator: A material that emits light after absorbing energy from ionizing radiation or other excitation. This is the light-producing component at the heart of the detector.
Gamma camera: A medical imaging device that maps gamma rays emitted from a radiotracer inside the body. Its detector head uses scintillators to convert incoming gamma rays into measurable light.
Gas ionization detector: A radiation detector that collects charge created when ionizing radiation passes through a gas. It measures charge directly rather than converting radiation energy into scintillation light.
Spinthariscope: An instrument that makes individual alpha-particle impacts visible as tiny flashes on a fluorescent screen. It made scintillations observable before electronic readout became practical.
Silicon photomultiplier: A solid-state array of avalanche photodiodes operated in Geiger mode to detect very weak light. It provides a compact, solid-state alternative to vacuum photomultiplier tubes.
Photodetector: A device that converts incident light into an electrical signal. Every scintillation detector needs a device to read out its emitted light.
Positron emission tomography: A medical imaging method that reconstructs radiotracer distributions from pairs of annihilation photons. PET scanners commonly use scintillator crystals to detect the annihilation photons.
Semiconductor radiation detector: A detector that measures charge carriers generated when radiation deposits energy in a semiconductor. It avoids optical conversion and can provide high energy resolution.
William Crookes: An English chemist and physicist whose investigations included cathode rays and radioactive materials. His spinthariscope demonstrated visible flashes from alpha particles striking zinc sulfide.

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