State of the art timing in TOF-PET detectors with LuAG, GAGG and L(Y)SO scintillators of various sizes coupled to FBK-SiPMs

Time of flight (TOF) in positron emission tomography (PET) has experienced a revival of interest after its first introduction in the eighties. This is due to a significant progress in solid state photodetectors (SiPMs) and newly developed scintillators (LSO and its derivatives). Latest developments at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) lead to the NUV-HD SiPM with a very high photon detection efficiency of around 55%. Despite the large area of 4×4 mm2 it achieves a good single photon time resolution (SPTR) of 180±5ps FWHM. Coincidence time resolution (CTR) measurements using LSO:Ce codoped with Ca scintillators yield best values of 73±2ps FWHM for 2×2×3 mm3 and 117±3ps for 2×2×20 mm3 crystal sizes. Increasing the crystal cross-section from 2×2 mm2 to 3×3 mm2 a non negligible CTR deterioration of approximately 7ps FWHM is observed. Measurements with LSO:Ce codoped Ca and LYSO:Ce scintillators with various cross-sections (1×1 mm2 - 4×4 mm2) and lengths (3mm - 30mm) will be a basis for discussing on how the crystal geometry affects timing in TOF-PET. Special attention is given to SiPM parameters, e.g. SPTR and optical crosstalk, and their measured dependency on the crystal cross-section. Additionally, CTR measurements with LuAG:Ce, LuAG:Pr and GGAG:Ce samples are presented and the results are interpreted in terms of their scintillation properties, e.g. rise time, decay time, light yield and emission spectra.