A hybrid radiation detector based on a plasma display panel

Recently, large-area image detectors have been investigated for X-ray imaging in medical diagnostic and other applications. In this paper, a new type of radiation detector is described, based on the integration of a photoconductor into a plasma display panel (PDP). This device, called a hybrid PDP detector, should be quite inexpensive, because it can directly leverage off the fabrication and materials technologies widely used in plasma display panels. Also, these new radiation detectors should operate under the most challenging environmental conditions, because they are inherently rugged and radiation-resistant and insensitive to magnetic fields. In this paper, we describe a hybrid digital radiation detector device, based on plasma display. The PDP panel is 7 in. in size with a 1000-μm pixel pitch, and filled with 700 Torr of Xe gas; the hybrid PDP panel is of the same structure, except for the photoconductor deposit. The glass absorption, dark current, X-ray sensitivity, and linearity as a function of electric field were measured to investigate its electrical properties. From the results, stabilized dark current density and significant X-ray sensitivity were obtained with both panels; however, the hybrid PDP detector showed better characteristics than the PDP detector. It also had good signal response and linearity. The hybrid digital radiation detector device based on a plasma display seems to be a promising technology for use in radiology and dynamic moving imaging.