Photonic Crystals: Enhancing the Light Output of Scintillation Based Detectors
Abstract
A scintillator is a material which emits light when excited by ionizing radiation. Such materials are used in a diverse range of applications; From high energy particle physics experiments, X-ray security, to nuclear cameras or positron emission tomography. Future high-energy physics (HEP) experiments as well as next generation medical imaging applications are more and more pushing towards better scintillation characteristics. One of the problems in heavy scintillating materials is related to their high index of refraction. As a consequence, most of the scintillation light produced in the bulk material is trapped inside the crystal due to total internal reflection. The same problem also occurs with light emitting diodes (LEDs) and has for a long time been considered as a limiting factor for their overall efficiency. Recent developments in the area of nanophotonics were showing now that those limitations can be overcome by introducing a photonic crystal (PhC) slab at the outcoupling surface of the substrate. Photonic crystals are optical materials which can affect the propagation of light in multiple ways. In this work, we used 2D PhC slabs consisting of hexagonal placed rods of air or square shaped pillars made of silicon nitride. The 300-500nm thick photonic crystal slab changes the reflection properties of the crystal-air interface in different ways. In our case the pattern was optimized to enable the light extraction of photons which are otherwise confined within the…
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