PSI - Issue 47

Dionysios Linardatos et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 47 (2023) 80–86 Linardatos/ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2023) 000 – 000

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2. Materials and Methods The cubic (10x10x10 mm) CeBr 3 crystal (Figure 1) examined in this work was purchased encapsulated in an aluminum case to protect the crystal due to its hygroscopicity (Advatech UK, 2022). The dimensions of the encapsulation were measured from X-ray images obtained from a non-destructive (NDT) testing high-resolution Remote RadEye HR CMOS digital imaging sensor under X-ray irradiation (Linardatos et al., 2021). The back surface had an aluminum thickness of 0.7 mm, while the exit window is fused silica glass with a thickness of 1.93 mm (Figure 2).

Fig. 2. X-ray image of the encapsulated CeBr 3 crystal obtained with a RadEye HR imaging detector.

The CeBr 3 crystal was exposed to X-rays (90 kVp @ 89.83 mR) using our Laboratory’s medical X-ray unit, the Assing SpA model Aster BK, consisting of a CPI Inc. model X-ray CMP 200 DR generator and an IAE SpA model RTM90HS X-ray tube, built within a C352 housing. This setup was used to measure the produced light from the crystal within a temperature range from 26 °C to 155 ° C. Additionally, a 2 cm Al external filter was placed to increase the mean energy of the X-rays (Linardatos et al., 2022a). In order to probe the crystal ’ s temperature, it was removed from the encapsulation and a thermocouple was attached on its surface using Teflon tape. The tape covered every side except from the exit surface (Figure 3). To increase the crystal’s temperature, a Perel heating gun (model 3700-9) was used. The temperature was monitored with the thermocouple and an Extech 430 multimeter.

Fig. 3. left) CeBr 3 crystal out of the shell and right) placement of the crystal within the adaptor with thermocouple and Teflon tape.