Evaluating the temperature dependence of an inorganic scintillator detector using the HYPERSCINT research platform

Optical fibre scintillation detectors have proven to be a viable alternative in clinical radiation dosimetry. By obtaining active readouts, scintillators can be used to give real time measurements for various clinical and pre-clinical applications from radiology to radiation therapy. Gd2O2S:Pr is of interest as a scintillator due to it offering a much higher light output than other scintillators, organic scintillators in particular. Temperature dependence is exhibited by a number of organic scintillators, such as BCF-60; this however needs to be established for the inorganic scintillator Gd2O2S:Pr. This study therefore aims to characterize the temperature dependence of Gd2O2S:Pr, using the HYPERSCINT Research Platform 200. The detector was immersed in water and the temperature varied from 22.7°C to 49.0°C using a hotplate and temperature controller. Five spectra were recorded and averaged at each of the seven temperatures, in approximately 5°C increments. A decrease in total photon count with temperature was observed of 0.22%/°C between 346 and 631 nm with a decrease of 0.38 in the full width at half maximum at the photopeak of 513 nm. A method of correcting for temperature is necessary in the use of Gd2O2S:Pr as a detection material in environments where the temperature differs significantly from the calibration temperature.