Lithium Fluoride as a Novel X-ray Image Detector for Biological μ-World Capture

Abstract

X-ray microradiographs of small biological objects, such as animals and plant materials at micrometric resolution, are currently performed by various methods, all of which are limited by the resolution or the dynamic range of the image detectors. Here a novel X-ray image detector is discussed, in which the previous limitations have been overcome. A film of lithium fluoride salt is used as a detector, in which the stored biological image is read by observing the optically stimulated visible luminescence of the active color centers, efficiently produced by the X-rays.

A comparative study of optical and radiative characteristics of X-ray-induced luminescent defects in Ag-doped glass and LiF thin films and their applications in 2-D imaging

“…In addition, based on the radiation-induced Ag-related colour centres (Ag 0 and Ag 2+ CCs in Ag-doped glass) and F-aggregated colour centres (F 2 and F 3 + CCs in LiF), the intrinsic spatial resolution of the Ag-doped glass and LiF detectors will be several nanometers [7][8][9]. However, in the present study, the resolution is limited by the readout system utilised for the RPL and PL detectors.…”

“…CCs, whose centres consist of two electrons bound to three or two adjacent anion vacancies, respectively, embedded in LiF crystals and films based on the photoluminescence (PL) phenomenon can be used for high-performance detectors in micro-radiography, X-ray microscopy and phase contrast imaging [7][8][9]. Secondly, stable F 2 2+ (2Mg) CCs in aluminium oxide doped with carbon and magnesium (Al 2 O 3 :C, Mg) crystals based on the OSL phenomenon have been used as a fluorescent nuclear track detector [10].…”

“…Because these absorption bands almost overlap, these centres can be simultaneously excited with a single wavelength [7][8][9]. As a result, the PL spectra consist of two different Stokes-shifted emission bands peaking at 540 nm (the green PL) and 630 nm (the red PL), which correspond to the well-known positions of the F 3 + and F 2 centres, respectively.…”

A novel disk-type X-ray area imaging detector using radiophotoluminescence in silver-activated phosphate glass

“…4. The RPL bright lines were much wider due to the rotating motion (jitter) of the sample rather than the image blurring (Baldacchini et al, 2003). A schematic view of the spatial resolution measurement is shown in the inset.…”

“…Moreover, several demonstrations to visualize the stored dose information have been carried out using stable color centers (CCs) in transparent materials. First, the utilization of stable F 2 and F 3 + CCs in lithium fluoride (LiF) crystals and films as an imaging detector for X-ray microradiographs based on a fluorescence confocal optical microscope has been developed for the extreme ultraviolet (EUV), soft X-ray, and hard X-ray wavelengths produced by various sources (Baldacchini et al, 2003;Bonfigli et al, 2005;Pikuz et al, 2012). Second, the utilization of stable F 2 2+ (2Mg) CCs in aluminum oxide doped with carbon and magnesium (Al 2 O 3 :C,Mg) crystals with a 3-D spatial distribution and a fluorescent nuclear track detector (FNTD) based on confocal fluorescent microscopy and a photomultiplier (PMT) has been investigated for various ionizing radiation, high-energy heavy ions, and neutrons (Akselrod et al, 2006a;Akselrod et al, 2006b).…”