Direct measurement of Lubberts effect in CsI: Tl scintillators using single x-ray photon imaging

The imaging performance of an indirect flat panel detector (I-FPD) is fundamentally limited by that of its scintillator. The scintillator's modulation transfer function (MTF) varies as a function of the depth of x-ray interaction in the layer, due to differences in the lateral spread of light before detection by the optical sensor. This variation degrades the spatial frequency-dependent detective quantum efficiency (DQE(f) of I-FPDs, and is quantified by the Lubberts effect. The depth-dependent MTFs of various scintillators used in I-FPDs have been estimated using Monte Carlo simulations, but have never been measured directly. This work presents the first experimental measurements of the depth-dependent MTF of thallium-doped cesium iodide (CsI) and terbium-doped Gd2O2S (GOS) scintillators with thickness ranging from 200 1000 mu m. Light bursts from individual x-ray interactions occurring at known, fixed depths within a scintillator are imaged using an ultra-high-sensitivity II-EMCCD (image-intensifier, electron multiplying charge coupled device) camera. X-ray interaction depth in the scintillator is localized using a micro-slit beam of parallel synchrotron radiation (32 keV), and varied by translation in 50 +/- 1 mu m depth intervals. Fourier analysis of the imaged light bursts is used to deduce the MTF versus x-ray interaction depth z. Measurements of MTF(z,f) are used to calculate presampling MTF(f) with RQA-M3, RQA5 and RQA9 beam qualities and compared with conventional slanted edge measurements. Images of the depth-varying light bursts are used to derive each scintillator's Lubberts function for a 32 keV beam.