Lu2O3:Yb3

Lu₂O₃:Yb³

Recent investigations of ceramic lutetium oxide doped with Yb3 (Lu₂O₃:Yb³⁺) have shown it to be a promising candidate for applications in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, high energy physics (HEP) and high energy radiography. It has a very high density of 9.4 g/cc, which makes it one of the densest scintillator materials known. When doped with Yb³⁺ this material exhibits so-called charge transfer (CT) emission, characterized by the very fast decay time of ~1.7 ns and light yield of ~2,000 ph/MeV. This gives Yb³⁺-doped Lu₂O₃ (LO:Yb) an initial photon intensity (within the first nanosecond) of more than 1,130 ph/MeV, significantly higher than in any other material currently used for HEP experiments. Both the speed and light yield are significantly better than that of lead tungstate i.e. PbWO₄ (PWO), which makes it an attractive replacement for PWO. Also, due to its cubic structure, Lu₂O₃:Yb³⁺ can be produced using lower-temperature ceramic manufacturing techniques which are significantly less expensive than crystal growth.

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Lu₂O₃:Yb³ Properties

Decay Time (<2ns)

Light Yield (70% higher than PbWO4)

Emission (QE ~25%)