Domestic Fabrication Of High-Purity Precursor Materials For Advanced Radiation Detection Scintillator Crystals

SBIR · Phase: BOTH · Topic DTR27BZ02-NV005 · Solicitation 27.BZ

High-purity precursor materials are the foundational input for all high-performance inorganic scintillator crystals used in the DoW radiation detection and nuclear forensics missions. Current supply chains for key halides (e.g., LaCl₃, LaBr₃, YCl₃, LiCl, CsCl, CeCl3 etc.) and rare earth oxides (e.g., Gd2O3, CeO2, etc.) are heavily dependent on foreign sources. Several of the materials used for inorganic scintillator crystal growth are included in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 2025 List of Critical Minerals. This need is further reinforced by Executive Order 14415, "Securing America's Defense Supply Chains and Ensuring Domestic Acquisition of Critical Materials" (July 20, 2026), which directs the DoW to prioritize domestic sources for critical materials, restrict routine waivers for adversarial foreign suppliers effective January 1, 2027, and require supply chain mapping and mitigation plans from contractors and subcontractors. Scaling crystal growth of these scintillators and maintaining consistent performance requires precursor materials with stringent control of purity, stoichiometry, moisture, and trace radioactive contaminants. Poor quality precursor materials often introduce variability that degrades crystal quality, light yield, energy resolution, and PSD figure-of-merit. Desired materials typically have the following attributes, confirmed by analytical means and demonstrated by crystal growth results: • High Chemical Purity: At least ≥4N (99.99%) anhydrous metal halides or pre-reacted mixes; sub-ppm levels of contaminants that interfere with the selected scintillator’s performance, such as transition metals (e.g., Fe, Cr, Ni, Cu) and alkali contaminants (e.g., K, Rb). • Low Moisture / Oxygen Content: < 50 ppm (minimum) for hygroscopic materials. • Precise Stoichiometry Control (for pre-reacted elpasolites): Precise control of multi-cation ratios to enable growth of phase-pure crystals with minimal secondary phases or compositional gradients • Radioactive Impurity Control: Minimized 40K, 87Rb, 138La, 176Lu, and U/Th series contaminants to levels supporting low-background detector applications This topic specifically targets the development of domestic synthesis, purification and quality-assurance processes capable of producing scintillator-grade precursor materials at laboratory, pilot, and eventually production scales. The goal is to reduce or eliminate reliance on foreign sources while enabling the next generation of compact, high-performance, ruggedized detectors for WMD detection and nuclear security applications. The solution must meet the following minimum specifications: • Analytical Characterization: Comprehensive analytical characterization confirming chemical purity, low moisture/oxygen content (if applicable) and stochiometric control. Appropriate methods should be used for trace-metal purity or trace moisture measurement. • Domestic Feedstock Utilization: Primary use of U.S. or allied-nation sourced precursor materials (e.g. carbonates, oxides, chlorides) and any specialized equipment with documented traceability. • Validation Method: Rapid feasibility screening of material performance, which may include small-scale crystal growth and measurements such as powder radioluminescence or optical transmittance. • Production Scale: Reliable and reproducible laboratory-scale batches (e.g., 50-100 g) in Phase I; pilot-scale (e.g., 1–5 kg) in Phase II with batch-to-batch consistency. Ultimately, the focus is on material quality and potential for process scale up. • Open market commercialization: Process development must lead to high-purity precursor materials made commercially available to the broader U.S. industrial base, rather than exclusive licenses, proprietary arrangements, or other restrictions. Objective specifications (desired but not required for basic consideration): • Advanced Validation Method: Produced batches must be validated through single crystal growth and complete radiation detection performanc…

SBIR/STTR 은 미국 중소기업만 지원할 수 있습니다(Small Business Act 법정 요건). • 계열사를 포함해 상시 종업원 500명 이하 • 미국 시민 또는 영주권자 1인 이상이 50%를 초과해 직접 소유·지배 • 미국 내 사업장을 두고 주로 미국 내에서 사업을 영위할 것 • 수행책임자(PI)의 주된 근무처가 신청 기업일 것 출처: https://www.sbir.gov/faq/eligibility-requirements

Primary country

🇺🇸 United States

Also eligible

None

Foreign companies

No

Local entity

Required

Location condition

미국 내 사업장을 두고 미국 시민·영주권자가 50%를 초과해 소유한 중소기업만 신청할 수 있습니다(법정 요건).

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Official URL

https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/

Application URL

https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/

Last fetched

2026.11.06

Human review

Not reviewed — check the official announcement

First seen

2026.11.06

Data status

Auto-collected, not reviewed

AI enrichment

Needs verification