Positron decay 456 Subject

The next subject we will address is that of scintillators. These are phosphors used to detect a, p, and y rays from incident sources. This application has become very important with the advent of CT-scanners and the PET-scanner, i.e.- CT = "computerized tomagraphy" and PET = "positron emission tomography". In all cases, radioactive Isotopes are used as the source of these "rays", including positrons, i.e.- positive electrons, p. Although scintillation, i.e.- detection of high energy radioactive-decay particles, may occur for nearly all phosphors, efficient scintillators must satisfy the following requirements for practical use. 

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