Lead tungstate crystal (PWO) has broad prospects in the fields of nuclear medicine and high-energy physics. my country has strong research and development capabilities.

Lead tungstate crystal, referred to as PWO, chemical formula PbWO4, colorless and transparent appearance, tetragonal crystal system, scheelite structure, is a new type of scintillation crystal. Lead tungstate crystal has the characteristics of high density, fast response speed, short radiation length, short light attenuation time, good resistance to radiation damage, non-deliquescing, and low cost. It is a scintillator material with high radiation detection efficiency.

According to the “China Lead Tungstate Crystal (PWO) Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report 2023-2028” released by the Industrial Research Center shows that lead tungstate crystal has a strong ability to absorb gamma rays, and its emission spectrum is suitable for matching photomultiplier tubes, silicon photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes, etc. It is a high-energy radiation detection material that can be widely used in high-energy physics and nuclear physics. , nuclear medicine, industrial CT and other fields, it is one of the scintillation crystals with the greatest development potential, and therefore has become a research hotspot.

In the field of nuclear medicine, in order to improve the performance of nuclear medicine imaging equipment (such as PET), the requirements for scintillator materials for core component detectors are constantly increasing, such as density, response speed, radiation length, radiation resistance and other properties. Lead tungstate crystals are used in These performance advantages are outstanding. In addition to excellent detection performance, detectors made with them as scintillator also have the advantages of compact structure, less need for additional equipment, and lower cost, so they are valued.

Lead tungstate crystal also has competitive advantages in the field of high energy physics. The electromagnetic calorimeter, the core component of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) built by CERN to explore the God particle, is made of lead tungstate crystals. The European Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is currently the world’s largest and most energetic particle accelerator.

The growth of lead tungstate crystal is difficult, and it is generally prepared by processes such as the pull method, the cosolvent method, the crucible descent method, and the vertical gradient solidification method. Crystals grown by the Czochralski method are prone to cracking and have low yields, while crystals grown by the cosolvent method are smaller in size. These two processes cannot meet the demand for large-size, high-quality, large-volume, and low-cost lead tungstate crystals in high-energy physics and other fields. , the crucible descending method has become an important preparation process. In addition, the vertical gradient solidification method has a simple process and controllable growth process, and can realize industrial production of lead tungstate crystals.

The disadvantage of lead tungstate crystal is its low luminescence yield. Its performance can be improved by doping with other elements. Doping elements include neodymium (Nd), gadolinium (Gd), erbium (Er), lanthanum (La), lead ( Pb), etc. In addition, lanthanum-molybdenum double-doping, niobium-molybdenum double-doping, etc. can be used to improve performance.

Industry analysts said that the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the world’s leading technology research institution for lead tungstate crystals and one of the largest in Europe. The high-quality, large-size lead tungstate crystal used in the Hadron Collider (LHC) is produced by it, making the detection of God particles a reality. Overall, lead tungstate crystals have broad development prospects in fields such as nuclear medicine and high-energy physics due to their excellent comprehensive properties. my country has strong development capabilities in lead tungstate crystals.