Importance

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Abstract

A radiation detection device includes a scintillator having an upper scintillator body section and a lower scintillator body section. The upper section forms an arcuate-shaped cap through which the incident radiation enters the scintillator, and the lower section has sidewalls disposed at a selected taper angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the scintillator body and an optically transmissive window disposed opposite the cap of the upper section such that optical photons can pass from the scintillator to a photodetector coupled to the window. An optically-diffuse reflective layer is disposed over the sidewalls and the cap. The sidewalls typically have a positive taper angle, being closer to one another near the optically transmissive window and farther from one another near the cap. The arcuate shape of the cap typically conforms to the arc of a circle centered on the optically transmissive window. The selected taper angle of the sidewalls and the radius of the arc of the cap are chosen to cause light photons generated within the scintillator body to be reflected from the sidewalls toward the cap and reflected from the cap towards the optically transmissive window (or reflected directly to the optically transmissive window for sidewalls having a negative taper angle) such that the photons are focussed on the window and strike the window at an angle greater than the critical angle for the scintillator-to-photodetector interface.

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First Claim