Method for evaluating response time of scintillator luminescence on the order of nanoseconds by single-electron excitation

Abstract To evaluate the response times of high-speed scintillators accurately with a simple measurement configuration, a method using single-electron irradiation was developed. Scintillators are widely used in measurement devices, and they must have short response times on the order of nanoseconds. Although there are methods which can evaluate fast responses, they require special equipment that can not be easily incorporated into the scintillator development. In this study, a scanning electron microscope was used to irradiate scintillators with single electrons and the response times of Y 2 SiO 5 :Ce (YSO) and YAlO 3 :Ce (YAP) were evaluated. They showed two types of decay time (response time) τ , wherein the τ by slow decay values were 50 ± 2 ns for YSO and 36 ± 2 ns for YAP. These results roughly match those of previous reports and indicate the validity of the developed method. The method also observed the decay with a resolution of 2 ns or less, which means it can make evaluations of the order of nanoseconds.