Progress of Inorganic Scintillators for Future HEP Experiments

California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

^* Corresponding author: zhu@caltech.edu

Published online: 7 March 2025

Abstract

The Caltech HEP Crystal Lab has been actively investigating novel inorganic scintillators along the following three directions. Fast and radiation hard inorganic scintillators to face the challenge of severe radiation environment expected by future HEP experiments at hadron colliders, such as the HL‐LHC and FCC-hh. Ultrafast inorganic scintillators to face the challenge of unprecedented event rate expected by future HEP experiments searching for rare decays, such as Mu2e‐II, and ultrafast time of flight system at hadron colliders. Cost‐effective inorganic scintillators for the homogeneous hadron calorimeter concept to face the challenge of both electromagnetic and jet mass resolutions required by the proposed Higgs factory. We report novel materials along all directions: LuAG:Ce ceramic fibers for the HL‐LHC, Lu₂O₃:Yb ceramic scintillators for ultrafast applications, and ABS:Ce and DSB:Ce glass scintillators for the proposed Higgs factory. The result of this investigation may also benefit nuclear physics experiments, GHz hard X‐ray imaging, medical imaging, and homeland security applications.