5. Conclusion

The choice of materials used for radiation detection is mainly based on the properties of the particles' interaction with matter and the collection of the charges or photons generated. Little progress is to be expected in this area. As far as semiconductors are concerned, the choice is limited and progress is slow, as it is linked to improvements in crystalline purity. We can hope to see an evolution in the quality of CdTe or even mercuric iodide (HgI ₂ ), which nurtured many hopes some twenty years ago, but the crystalline growth of compound semiconductors presents multiple technological difficulties. As far as scintillating materials are concerned, research is more active and potential choices more numerous, but we are still in search of a material that would present a scintillation efficiency superior to that of Nal(Tl).

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