Columnar structured cesium iodide (CsI) scintillators doped with Thallium (Tl) have been used extensively for indirect x-ray imaging detectors. The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology for systematic investigation of the inherent imaging performance of CsI as a function of thickness and design type. The results will facilitate the optimization of CsI layer design for different x-ray imaging applications, and allow validation of physical models developed for the light channeling process in columnar CsI layers. CsI samples of different types and thicknesses were obtained from the same manufacturer. They were optimized either for light output (HL) or image resolution (HR), and the thickness ranged between 150 and 600 microns. During experimental measurements, the CsI samples were placed in direct contact with a high resolution CMOS optical sensor with a pixel pitch of 48 microns. The modulation transfer function (MTF), noise power spectrum (NPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of the detector with different CsI configurations were measured experimentally. The aperture function of the CMOS sensor was determined separately in order to estimate the MTF of CsI alone. We also measured the pulse height distribution of the light output from both the HL and HR CsI at different x-ray energies, from which the x-ray quantum efficiency, Swank factor and x-ray conversion gain were determined. Our results showed that the MTF at 5 cycles/mm for the HR type was 50% higher than for the HL. However, the HR layer produces approximately 36% less light output. The Swank factor below K-edge was 0.91 and 0.93 for the HR and HL types, respectively, thus their DQE(0) were essentially identical. The presampling MTF decreased as a function of thickness L. The universal MTF, i.e., MTF plotted as a function of the product of spatial frequency f and CsI thickness L, increased as a function of L. This indicates that the light channeling process in CsI improved the MTF of thicker layers more significantly than for the thinner ones.

The paper presents the results of investigation of the electrical breakdown in low pressure gases when the secondary electrons released from the cathode play the dominant role in the initiation of electrical breakdown. The secondary electrons are created by the charged and neutral species formed during the previous breakdown and discharge as well as by γ-rays. Electrical breakdown investigations are based on the measurements of electrical breakdown voltage and electrical breakdown time delay for gas-filled tubes with spherical electrodes with diameters much larger than an interelectrode distance. Stochastic nature of both the breakdown voltage and time delay are discussed and their distributions based on experimental data are shown. The methods for the determination of static breakdown voltage are also analysed. The influence of different parameters (overvoltage, cathode material and its surface purity, gas pressure, glow current, etc) on time delay are studied. A special attention is paid to the memory effect in various gases that depends on the positive ion recombination times, catalytic recombination times in the case of nitrogen and hydrogen, as well as metastable states deexcitation times in noble gases. The analysis of this effect is done by memory curves on the basis of which the presence of long-lived neutral active states can be followed to their very low concentrations when cosmic and environment radiation play the dominant role in electrical breakdown initiation.