Photonic nanostructures to revolutionise the position sensitivity of gamma-ray scintillator detectors

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Ionising radiation is commonly used as a non destructive probe in medical imaging or other radiography methods to obtain information that isnot available through visual inspection. Detection of ionising radiation plays a major role also in homeland security and other applications as diverse as archeometry and history of art. Finally, detection of ionising radiation plays a key role in the quest for answering a wide range of fundamental physics questions. Some of the most widely used ionising radiation detectors are scintillating crystals, which covert the incoming radiation into visible, scintillation light that can be detected by photosensors coupled to the scintillator.In this project we are interested in improving the sensitivity of scintillator detectors by developing an improved technology for coupling the scintillator surface to the photonsensors. This will provide a relatively economic way to improve a scintillator's performance and has the potential to impact many of the societal applications where these detectors are used but also offer an improved sensitivity for fundamental science research where such scintillators are commonly used.