Method of growing lutetium oxyorthosilicate crystals and apparatus including lutetium oxyorthosilicate crystal scintillators

摘要

A method for producing lutetium-containing crystals such as lutetium oxyorthosilicate crystals includes maintaining the interface between a crystal and the melt from which it is pulled substantially flat as the crystal is grown. In a Czochralski growth method, the rate of rotation of the crystal and its diameter are typically controllable to provide the flat interface as the crystal is pulled. Crystals produced by this method exhibit less variability in scintillation behavior so making them particularly suitable for spectroscopic uses. Such crystals find uses in borehole logging tools.