PLoS One. 2017 Nov 27;12(11):e0186728. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186728. eCollection 2017.

Novel scintillating material 2-(4-styrylphenyl)benzoxazole for the fully digital and MRI compatible J-PET tomograph based on plastic scintillators.

Wieczorek A^1,², Dulski K¹, Niedźwiecki S¹, Alfs D¹, Białas P¹, Curceanu C³, Czerwiński E¹, Danel A⁴, Gajos A¹, Głowacz B¹, Gorgol M⁵, Hiesmayr B⁶, Jasińska B⁵, Kacprzak K¹, Kamińska D¹, Kapłon Ł¹, Kochanowski A⁷, Korcyl G¹, Kowalski P⁸, Kozik T¹, Krzemień W⁹, Kubicz E¹, Kucharek M⁴, Mohammed M^1,¹⁰, Pawlik-Niedźwiecka M¹, Pałka M¹, Raczyński L⁸, Rudy Z¹, Rundel O¹, Sharma NG¹, Silarski M¹, Uchacz T⁷, Wiślicki W⁸, Zgardzińska B⁵, Zieliński M¹, Moskal P¹.

Author information

1: Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
2: Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland.
3: INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati, Italy.
4: Institute of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Kraków, Poland.
5: Institute of Physics, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland.
6: Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
7: Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
8: Departament of Complex System, National Centre for Nuclear Research, Otwock-Świerk, Poland.
9: High Energy Physics Division, National Centre for Nuclear Research, Otwock-Świerk, Poland.
10: Department of Physics, College of Education for Pure Sciences, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq.

Abstract

A novel plastic scintillator is developed for the application in the digital positron emission tomography (PET). The novelty of the concept lies in application of the 2-(4-styrylphenyl)benzoxazole as a wavelength shifter. The substance has not been used as scintillator dopant before. A dopant shifts the scintillation spectrum towards longer wavelengths making it more suitable for applications in scintillators of long strips geometry and light detection with digital silicon photomultipliers. These features open perspectives for the construction of the cost-effective and MRI-compatible PET scanner with the large field of view. In this article we present the synthesis method and characterize performance of the elaborated scintillator by determining its light emission spectrum, light emission efficiency, rising and decay time of the scintillation pulses and resulting timing resolution when applied in the positron emission tomography. The optimal concentration of the novel wavelength shifter was established by maximizing the light output and it was found to be 0.05 ‰ for cuboidal scintillator with dimensions of 14 mm x 14 mm x 20 mm.