Radiation detector with photodetectors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9354328-B2
Application number	US-201113991482-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 12, 2011
Priority date	Dec 13, 2010
Publication date	May 31, 2016
Grant date	May 31, 2016

Abstract

The invention relates to a radiation detector ( 100 ) comprising a scintillator group with for example two scintillator elements ( 120 a , 120 b ) for converting incident primary photons (X, X′) into secondary photons (λ, λ′) according to a characteristic emission spectrum. Moreover, the detector comprises at least two photodetectors ( 130 a , 130 b ) for converting said secondary photons into electrical signals, wherein said photodetectors have different absorption spectra and can be read out separately. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the photodetectors are organic photodetectors ( 130 a , 130 b ). The scintillator elements ( 120 a , 120 b ) and the photodetectors are preferably arranged in a stack one behind the other. Due to the at least two photodetectors ( 130 a , 130 b ), additional information about incident primary radiation (X, X′) can be collected.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A radiation detector for detecting high-energy radiation, comprising:
a scintillator group of a plurality of scintillator elements with at least two scintillator elements of the plurality of scintillator elements, including a first scintillator element configured to convert first energy primary photons of incident primary radiation into first secondary photons according to a first characteristic emission spectrum of the first scintillator element, which includes a first peak, and a second scintillator element configured to convert second different energy primary photons of incident primary radiation into second secondary photons according to a second different characteristic emission spectrum of the second scintillator element, which includes a second different peak;
at least two photodetectors, including a first photodiode configured to convert said first secondary photons into first electrical signals and a second photodiode configured to convert said second secondary photons into second electrical signals, wherein each photodetector includes a first electrode disposed on one side and a second electrode disposed on an opposite side; wherein said photodetectors have different absorption spectra and read out emission with a voltage applied across the first electrode and the second electrode; and
wherein the at least two photodetectors are transparent to the incident second different energy primary radiation.

2. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second photodetectors are arranged with one of the first and second photodiodes between another of the first and second photodetectors and at least one of the first and second scintillator elements.

3. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second photodetectors are organic photodetectors.

4. The radiation detector according to claim 3 , wherein at least one of the organic photodetectors comprises an organic material selected from the group consisting of PEDOT, PSS, P3HT, PCBM, C60, ZnPc, MeO-TPD, p-NPB, TTN, F4TCNQ, DCV5T and derivatives or modifications thereof.

5. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , wherein the scintillator group comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of CsI, GOS, CWO and SrI 2 .

6. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , wherein the scintillator group comprises at least two materials with different emission spectra.

7. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second scintillator elements are arranged one behind the other in a nominal direction of incidence of the primary photons.

8. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second photodetectors are arranged one behind the other in a nominal direction of incidence of the primary photons.

9. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one reflective layer that reflects secondary photons.

10. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , wherein it comprises a substrate with electrical lines for contacting the photodetectors.

11. An energy resolved CT scanner or X-ray apparatus, comprising a radiation detector according to claim 1 .

12. The radiation detector according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second photodetectors includes a separate electrical connection to a read-out unit.

13. The radiation detector according to claim 12 , wherein the first and second electrodes of each photodetector send separate electrical signals to the read-out unit.

14. A radiation detector for detecting radiation, comprising:
a scintillator group which comprises a first scintillator element and a second scintillator element, and the first scintillator element is configured to emit photons of a first wavelength in response to a radiation photon of a first energy, and the second scintillator element is configured to emit photons of a second wavelength in response to a radiation photon of a second energy different from the first energy;
a first photodetector configured to convert the photons of the first wavelength into first electrical signals with a voltage applied across a first electrode disposed on a first side of the first photodetector and a second electrode disposed on a second side of the first photodetector opposite the first electrode, and the first and second electrodes are connected to a read-out unit which receives the first electrical signals;
a second photodetector configured to convert the photons of the second wavelength into second electrical signals with a voltage applied across a third electrode disposed on a first side of the second photodetector and a fourth electrode disposed on a second side of the second photodetector opposite the third electrode, and the third and fourth electrodes are connected separately to the read-out unit which receives the second electrical signals; and
wherein the first photodetector and the second photodetector are transparent to the radiation photons of at least one of the first energy or the second energy.

15. The radiation detector according to claim 14 , wherein each of the first and second photodetectors are organic photodetectors.

16. A radiation detector for detecting high-energy radiation, comprising:
a scintillator group of a plurality of scintillator elements configured to convert primary photons of primary incident radiation into secondary photons according to a characteristic emission spectrum which includes different peaks corresponding to each of the scintillator elements;
a plurality of photodetectors configured to convert the secondary photons into electrical signals and are transparent to primary incident radiation corresponding to at least one of the different peaks, wherein each photodetector includes a first electrode disposed on one side and a second electrode disposed on an opposite side, and each photodetector has a different absorption spectra and reads out emission from one of the different peaks separately with a voltage applied across the first electrode and the second electrode.

17. The radiation detector for detecting high-energy radiation according to claim 16 , wherein the plurality of photodetectors are organic photodetectors.

18. The radiation detector for detecting high-energy radiation according to claim 17 , wherein the plurality of photodetectors are arranged with at least two photodetectors disposed in between one of the plurality of scintillator elements and another of the plurality of scintillator elements.

Assignees

• Vogtmeier Gereon
• Koninkl Philips Nv

Inventors

• Vogtmeier Gereon

Classifications

• G01T1/2008 Primary

  using a combination of different types of scintillation detectors, e.g. phoswich · CPC title

• G01T1/2006 Primary

  using a combination of a scintillator and photodetector which measures the means radiation intensity · CPC title