Avoiding concentration quenching and self-absorption in CsEuX (X = Br, I) by Sm doping.

The benefits of doping CsEuBr and CsEuI with Sm are studied for near-infrared scintillator applications. It is shown that undoped CsEuI suffers from a high probability of self-absorption, which is almost completely absent in CsEuI:2% Sm. Sm doping is also used to gain insight in the migration rate of Eu excitations in CsEuBr and CsEuI, which shows that concentration quenching is weak, but still significant in the undoped compounds.

Design and modeling of a Laue lens for radiation therapy with hard x-ray photons.

We have designed and modeled a novel optical system composed of a Laue lens coupled to an x-ray tube that produces a focused beam in an energy range near 100 keV (= 12.4 picometer). One application of this system is radiation therapy where it could enable treatment units that are considerably simpler and lower in cost than present technologies relying on linear accelerators.