Using LYSO scintillator coupled on HAMAMATSU R9800 （a fast photomultiplier） to form the small size γ-ray detectors, a compact lifetime spectrometer has been built for the positron annihilation experiments. The system time resolution FWHM=193 ps and the coincidence counting rate -8 cps/p.Ci were achieved. A lifetime value of 219±1 ps of positron annihilation in well annealed Si was tested, which is in agreement with the typical values published in the previous lectures.
A method and system for automatically and simultaneously measuring the light output of multiple scintillators,or each scintillating unit of an array,were developed.Using a large area flat panel PSPMT H8500,the light output and energy resolution were obtained automatically by comparing with reference scintillators or array using an Energy Table,Look-up Table and energy spectrum data.The aim of developing an efficient performance evaluation of scintillators was achieved.Using the method,a scintillator performance testing system was set up and six LYSO crystals and a 3×3 LYSO array were measured.The results showed that the light output and energy resolution were accurately measured automatically.The deviation of repeat measurements for the same sample was not more than 2%,and the nonlinear deviation of the system was not more than 3%.The system is suitable for measuring the performance of crystals,especially where the mass measurement of crystals and arrays is required.
Positron Emission Tomography （PET） using time-of-flight information, which can greatly improve the quality of the reconstructed image, has recently become an exciting topic. In this work, 3.2 mm×3.2 min×25 mm finger-like LYSO crystals were used to make a 5×5 array, coupled to the Hamamatsu H8500 photomultiplier tube （PMT） as a detector. A fast leading-edge discriminator was designed for the LYSO-H8500 detector. Average coinci- dence time resolution FWHM of 330 ps was obtained for the LYSO detector with a reference BaF2 detector, whose time resolution for 511 keV γ-rays was FWHM 150 ps. Time resolution FWHM of 294 ps was calculated for the LYSO detector, and coincidence time resolution of FHWM 415 ps can be expected for two identical LYSO detectors.
In this work we studied the feasibility of detecting the depth of interaction （DOI） with two layers of crystal arrays of LYSO and BGO scintillators coupled to a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube （PS-PMT） R8900-C12. A front-end electronics was designed, with which we got different pulse shapes for different crystals to obtain depth information. With the double integration method, we got the DOI histogram of a divided integration ratio of two crystals as the standard to determine the layer-of-interaction. The DOI accuracy, measured by scanning a 22Na slit source along the side of the module, was 98% for the LYSO layer and 95% for the BGO layer. The energy resolution at 511keV was 13.1% for LYSO and 17.1% for BGO. We obtained good crystal separation in 2D position histograms of both layers. These results could be useful in the manufacture of PET scanners with high spatial resolutions.
A LaBr3：Ce scintillator has a high light output （～60000 p.e/MeV） and a short decay constant （25 ns）, which makes it good for time spectrometry. Compared with a BaF2 scintillator, it can bear a much higher count rate, and can be coupled to photomultipliers without using a quartz window. In this work, a positron annihilation lifetime spectrometer （PALS） consisting of two bulks of φ25 mm×25 mm LaBr3：Ce scin- tillator coupled to two XP20D0 photomultipliers, respectively, was built. A time resolution of FWHM=206 ps was measured for the PALS with a 60Co source at the energy window for 22Na. With this spectrometer, a reasonable lifetime value τ =221±4 ps in a pure Si sample is obtained, which means that the utilization of LaBr3：Ce as the detector for a PALS is feasible.
We have built and investigated a detector module for animal SPECT imaging, especially for use in large field of view （FOV） conditions. The module consists of a PMT-based detector and a parallel-hole collimator with an effective area of 80 mm× 80 mm. The detector is composed of a NaI scintillation crystal array coupled to four H8500 position sensitive photomultiplier tubes （PS-PMT）. The intrinsic energy resolution of the detector is 11.5% at 140 keV on average. The planar spatial resolution of the module changes from 2.2 mm to 5.1 mm at different source-to-collimator distances with an unchanged sensitivity of about 34cps/MBq. Additionally, the SPECT Micro Deluxe Phantom imaging was performed with a radius of rotation （ROR） of 40 mm. Using the FBP reconstruction algorithm, a high performance image was obtained, indicating the feasibility of this detector module.
