All-Inorganic Glass Scintillators: Scintillation Mechanism, Materials, and Applications

Glass scintillators have several benefits compared to the currently used single or polycrystalline scintillators, including non-hygroscopicity, mechanical ruggedness, ease of producing customizable shapes, and low-cost synthesis. The combination of the inert glass matrix and the embedded highly scintillating center render them significant materials for medical imaging and therapy, non-destructive probing, nuclear monitoring, and high-energy physics. Recently, great progress has been made in exploring new kinds of glass scintillator materials, improving imaging resolution for radiation detection, and developing an enormous range of commercial products. However, the majority of efforts have been devoted to the variation of materials, while rationally designing this new family of scintillators toward expected properties and applications is still lacking. In this review, the focus is specifically on advances in glass scintillators, including the scintillation fundamentals, material designing rule, and current application status, as well as future challenges and future directions.