Radiation Detector Array with Non-Coplanar Scintillators

The patent introduces a non-coplanar geometric arrangement where the second detection surface is substantially parallel but not coplanar with the first detection surface. This spatial configuration in three dimensions allows the scintillator to have an extended effective thickness along the radiation photon path while maintaining physical separation between adjacent detector cells, thereby reducing cross-talk. The slanted or angled positioning of detection surfaces creates additional path length for radiation photons through the scintillator without increasing the physical thickness in the direction perpendicular to the detector plane.

The patent applies different geometric configurations to different parts of the detector array. Specifically, adjacent detector cells have detection surfaces that are substantially parallel but not coplanar, creating localized variations in the scintillator thickness along the radiation path. This allows each detector cell to have optimized local scintillator thickness for photon detection while the non-coplanar arrangement ensures that the effective thickness does not uniformly increase across all cells, thus minimizing cross-talk between adjacent cells.

The non-coplanar arrangement of detection surfaces enables the system to achieve increased effective scintillator thickness in the direction of radiation photon travel without proportionally increasing the physical thickness that would cause cross-talk. By angling or slanting the detection surfaces relative to each other while maintaining parallelism, the patent creates an extended interaction path for radiation photons through the scintillator material, improving detection efficiency while keeping the perpendicular thickness limited to reduce cross-talk.

The patent employs asymmetric geometric positioning where the second detection surface is parallel to but not coplanar with the first detection surface. This asymmetric arrangement creates different path lengths for radiation photons traversing adjacent detector cells, allowing optimization of photon detection in each cell while maintaining sufficient separation to minimize cross-talk. The asymmetric slant or angle introduces variation in the effective thickness that benefits detection efficiency without uniformly increasing cross-talk risk.