IODIDE SINGLE CRYSTAL, METHOD FOR PRODUCTION THE IODIDE SINGLE CRYSTAL, AND SCINTILLATOR COMPRISING THE IODIDE SINGLE CRYSTAL

摘要

An object of the invention is to provide an iodide single crystal material that provides a scintillator material for the next-generation TOF-PET, and a production process for high-quality iodide single crystal materials. The iodide single crystal material of the invention having the same crystal structure as LuI 3 and activated by a luminescence center RE where RE is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb is characterized in that a part or the whole of lutetium (Lu) in said iodide single crystal material is substituted by Y and/or Gd. The inventive production process for an iodide single crystal material is characterized by comprising a step of preparing starting materials comprising an RE metal or PEI 3 , I 2 , and a metal of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Lu, Y and Gd and/or its iodide provided that when only Lu is selected, there is a Lu metal chosen; a step of maintaining said starting materials under vacuum; a step of heating said starting materials at a reaction temperature to create a raw polycrystal material containing at least XI 3 :RE where X is said at least one selected element; and a step of turning said raw polycrystal material into a single crystal.