Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 486 (2002) 268–273 Application prospects of cadmium-containing crystals based on tungstates and double tungstates L. Nagornaya*, V. Ryzhikov, A. Apanasenko, I. Tupitsyna, V. Chernikov, V. Vostretsov STCRI, Concern ‘‘Institute for Single Crystals’’, 60 Lenin Avenue, 61001 Kharkov, Ukraine Abstract Tungstate and double tungstate crystals of high scintillation efficiency and detectors based on them are applied widely in the medical imaging and radiation monitoring because of their high sensitivity to the ionizing radiation, small radiation length, high radiation hardness, low afterglow level. In this work a possibility to broaden the application field of CWO crystals have been investigated by improvement of their spectrometric quality and decreasing of their afterglow level. CWO crystals with improved characteristics have been obtained (resolution for 137 Cs o8%, afterglow o0.02% after 20ms). A possibility is considered to use these crystals for spectrometry of thermal and resonance neutrons, which is possible due to the presence of nuclei with large cross-section for these neutrons in the crystal lattice. Compounds of a new type based on Cd, La-containing double tungstates doped with rare earth elements have been synthesized, and their luminescent characteristics have been studied. Calculation and measurement results are presented for these crystals under thermal and resonance neutron activation. The results obtained show that such crystals are very promising for dosimetry and spectrometry of neutrons at thermal energies. r 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 29.30.Hs; 29.30.Kv; 29.40.Mc; 29.40.Wk; 61.72.Y Keywords: Tungstate; Double tungstate; Scintillator; Dosimetry; Spectrometry 1. Introduction Development of new generation of high-sensi- tivity instruments for radiometry and spectro- metry, tomographic devices for medical and technical applications, scanners for customs and security inspection of luggage and for fundamental studies, etc., require the use of small-sized scintil- lators ensuring full absorption in the detection channels. In the last decade, there has been an intense research and development of efficient scintillators based on oxide crystals, such as germanates, tungstates, silicates, comprising heavy and rare-earth elements (REE). These scintillators satisfy the above requirements to a rather high degree as compared to the widely used alkali halides. In our report we would like to present the results of our study of the oxide scintillators on the base of CdWO 4 (CWO) and a new type of scintillation materials on the base of cadmium–lanthanum double tungstate Cd 0.5 La 1x (RE x )(WO 4 ) 2 . As we know, CWO is not a new scintillator, however, it finds wide applications thanks not only to its *Corresponding author. Tel.: +380-572-308-325; fax: +380- 572-321-391. E-mail address: stcri@isc.kharkov.com (L. Nagornaya). 0168-9002/02/$-see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0168-9002(02)00715-5