Advanced Scintillator and Detector Materials for Radiation Physics and Nuclear Medicine
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical and Photonic Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editors
Interests: scintillators; development of luminescent materials in the single crystalline and crystals forms; energy transfer processes in scintillators; defects and dopant as emission and trapping centers in dielectrics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Department of Oncology and Brachytherapy, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz Nicholas Copernicus University in Toruń, Jagiellońska Street 13/15, 85-067 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Interests: dosimetry; medical physics
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Recent progress in luminescent and scintillating materials has opened new opportunities for the development of high-performance detectors applied in radiation physics, radiotherapy, and nuclear medicine. Current research focuses on oxide-based single crystals, epitaxial structures, and composite scintillators optimized for accurate detection, imaging, and dosimetry of ionizing radiation.
Particular attention has been devoted to doped simple and mixed oxide systems in both bulk and epitaxial forms, including heavy compounds such as YAG, LuAG, and GAGG garnets and their combinations; Gd–Lu-based perovskites; Y–Lu–Gd orthosilicates; and La–Gd–Y pyrosilicates, as well as “light” materials such as Al₂O₃ (sapphire) and MgAl₂O₄ (spinel). Synthesized using advanced crystal growth methods including Czochralski, Bridgman, micro-pulling-down (MPD), and liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE), these materials exhibit high optical transparency, radiation hardness, and tunable scintillation decay kinetics. Their fast decay times, high light yields, and excellent thermal stability make them promising candidates for real-time radiation monitoring, beam quality control, and in vivo dosimetry in external beam and brachytherapy applications.
Recent developments have also demonstrated the potential of compact scintillation detectors integrated with optical fiber readout and silicon photomultipliers, enabling precise, real-time dose measurements under clinical conditions. Parallel advances in optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) detectors and composite multilayer architectures have further expanded the versatility of these materials, allowing simultaneous detection of mixed radiation fields and enhanced sensitivity through interface engineering.
Collectively, these advances underline the multifunctionality, structural robustness, and broad applicability of garnet-, perovskite-, silicate-, and Al₂O₃–MgAl₂O₄-based scintillators and detectors. Their integration into next-generation detection systems bridges fundamental luminescence research with practical innovations in medical imaging, clinical dosimetry, and radiation physics instrumentation.
Prof. Dr. Yuriy Zorenko
Guest Editor
Dr. Janusz Winiecki
Guest Editor Assistant
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Keywords
- scintillators
- radioluminescence
- crystals
- films
- oxides
- radiation physics
- nuclear medicine
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