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

SBIR topic DTR27BZ02-NV005 (U.S. Department of Defense – DTRA), Phase I and II. Open to U.S. small businesses. Opens: December 2, 2026. Closes: January 6, 2027. 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…