SBIR Phase I: Combinatorial Nano-Synthesis and Informatics for Rapid Discovery of Advanced Scintillators

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The Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop and validate a set of novel combinatorial nano-synthesis and informatics tools, which can lead to the rapid search and discovery of efficient and fast scintillators for next generation detectors with increased energy and temporal resolutions, sensitivity, stopping power for various security inspection and commercial applications. Scintillators are the "eyes" of many modern security inspection systems that utilize high-energy photon or neutron. The recent demands for faster, more accurate and sensitive detectors are driving the need for scintillators that are heavy, fast, efficient, and high-energy resolution. Unfortunately, no single scintillator currently known has all these desirable properties. There are 2 major innovations in this project: 1. Rapid deposition and synthesis of a large collection of different nano-crystalline scintillators from multiple nanometer-layers thin film precursors; 2. Powerful and custom scintillator database which integrates data mining functions and informatics for the discovery of "scintillator leads" and for guiding the combinatorial scintillator process. The combinatorial process developed in the project will significantly accelerate the R&D rate for superior scintillators and benefit the development of security detectors. More sensitive scintillator will enable more accurate and faster detection of potential threats. In addition, there is huge commercial potential for advanced scintillators in modern medical diagnostics systems such as digital radiography, mammography; fluoroscopic imaging, angiography, SPECT, PET etc. Such medical systems, leveraged by advanced scintillators as sensors, have combined annual revenue of $10 Billion of global market. Finally, the advanced scintillators discovered can proliferate into many other commercial products in manufacturing and in search for natural resources. For example, in X-ray inspection systems for industrial non-destructive evaluation (NDE), more sensitive scintillators will enable better and deeper detection of defects for quality control in manufacturing process.