Investigation of radiation absorption and X-ray fluorescence properties of medical imaging scintillators by Monte Carlo methods

X-ray absorption and X-ray fluorescence properties of medical imaging scintillating screens were studied by Monte Carlo methods as a function of the incident photon energy and screen-coating thickness. The scintillating materials examined were Gd2O2S, (GOS) Gd2SiO5 (GSO) YAlO3 (YAP), Y3Al5O12 (YAG), LuSiO5 (LSO), LuAlO3 (LuAP) and ZnS. Monoenergetic photon exposures were modeled in the range from 10 to 100 keV. The corresponding ranges of coating thicknesses of the investigated scintillating screens ranged up to 200 mg cm−2. Results indicated that X-ray absorption and X-ray fluorescence are affected by the incident photon energy and the screen's coating thickness. Regarding incident photon energy, this X-ray absorption and fluorescence was found to exhibit very intense changes near the corresponding K edge of the heaviest element in the screen's scintillating material. Regarding coating thickness, thicker screens exhibited higher X-ray absorption and X-ray fluorescence. Results also indicated that a significant fraction of the generated X-ray fluorescent quanta escape from the scintillating screen. This fraction was found to increase with screen's coating thickness. At the energy range studied, most of the incident photons were found to be absorbed via one-hit photoelectric effect. As a result, the reabsorption of scattered radiation was found to be of rather minor importance; nevertheless this was found to increase with the screen's coating thickness. Differences in X-ray absorption and X-ray fluorescence were found among the various scintillators studied. LSO scintillator was found to be the most attractive material for use in many X-ray imaging applications, exhibiting the best absorption properties in the largest part of the energy range studied. Y-based scintillators were also found to be of significant absorption performance within the low energy ranges.