Lutetium Fine Silicate (LFS): A new scintillator for range-verification applications in oncology

Proton therapy facilities are built all around the world for optimized cancer treatments. In order to fully exploit the advantages of this therapy, a proton range verification is mandatory. The most promising advances use either the positron emission tomography (PT-PET) approach or the prompt gamma emissions caused by nuclear reactions (by means of passive collimation, Compton cameras or prompt gamma timing). Gamma ray detectors in this field face unique requirements: Good properties with respect to energy, time and spatial resolution even when operated with high counting rates in rather high background environments.
Lutetium Fine Silicate (LFS) is a novel scintillation material which is especially designed for PET applications. Thus, in this work, the characteristics of LFS are determined for energy ranges which match the requirements of the prompt gamma ray monitors (i.e. up to 8 MeV). The usage of different photodetectors (i.e. PMT or Silicon-based read-out), depending on the particular application, is discussed.