Toray Industries, Inc. has announced the development of a highly durable, short-afterglow scintillator panel designed to accelerate nondestructive X-ray inspections and enhance operational efficiency. This innovative panel was launched in Japan and internationally in June 2024.
Nondestructive X-ray inspections are essential for ensuring the quality of critical products such as semiconductors, electronic components, and food products. Defects or contamination in these products can lead to significant social issues, including infrastructure disruptions, automobile accidents, and health hazards. The market for X-ray inspection systems is expected to grow at an annual rate of around 10%, driven by the expanding scope of product inspections, broader inspection targets, and the adoption of complete in-line inspections.
High-speed inspections, involving the swift movement of products and cameras, can reduce inspection times. However, scintillator panels using general-purpose terbium-doped gadolinium oxysulfide (GOS) phosphors often result in blurred images, such as transfer direction tails. While praseodymium-doped GOS phosphors offer sharper images due to their short afterglow, they are less bright compared to terbium-doped GOS phosphors. Additionally, the continuous use of high-speed X-ray inspections leads to the erosion of scintillator panel brightness, increasing the frequency of X-ray detector replacements.
Toray has addressed these challenges by enhancing the initial brightness of scintillator panels by up to 21% through the use of a highly reflective proprietary base film. Furthermore, by identifying and mitigating the causes of luminance degradation, Toray achieved luminance levels after acceleration tests that were up to 30% greater than those of conventional technologies.
"Our new scintillator panel delivers high brightness and controls luminance degradation, making it highly durable for fast nondestructive X-ray inspection," said a Toray spokesperson. "This development is in response to customer feedback and demonstrates our commitment to innovation and operational efficiency."
Toray will continue to lead in this field by developing and supplying new X-ray scintillator panel products that meet evolving customer needs. The company remains dedicated to creating materials that contribute to a better society, in line with its commitment to delivering new value and fostering social progress.
