Light guide assembly for a radiation detector

A method of fabricating a light guide assembly having a top planar surface and a bottom planar surface generally parallel to the top surface, comprising the steps of:

• a. providing an array of generally frusto-conical and/or frusto-pyramidal light guides made of a light-transmissive material, each light guide having a first major planar surface having a first surface area and a first edge thereabout, a second major planar surface generally parallel to the first surface and having a second surface area which is greater than the first surface area, and a thickness T between the first and second surfaces, the array being bounded by the top planar surface, the bottom planar surface and a peripheral boundary extending about the light guides generally perpendicularly between the top and bottom planar surfaces, the light guides being arranged with their first and second surfaces disposed coplanar with the top and bottom planar surfaces, respectively, so as to provide an inner gap between adjacent light guides, wherein each inner gap has a generally isosceles triangular or generally isosceles trapezoidal gap profile and a spacing S as measured between the first edges of the adjacent light guides, and wherein an outer gap around the periphery of the outermost light guides is defined by the plane of the top planar surface, the outer sides of the outermost light guides and the peripheral boundary;
• b. providing an optical isolation frame comprising a frame of interconnected slats made of an opaque material, wherein the slats are arranged and profiled to correspondingly match the respective arrangement and profiles of the inner gaps and outer gap of the light guide array, wherein the frame comprises one or more inner slats each corresponding to a respective inner gap and one or more outer slats corresponding to the outer gap, wherein each inner slat has a generally isosceles triangular or generally isosceles trapezoidal inner slat profile and each outer slat has a generally right triangular or generally semi-trapezoidal outer slat profile;
• and
• c. bonding the light guide array and the optical isolation frame to each other such that the slats in the optical isolation frame are disposed within their corresponding gaps in the light guide array.

A light guide assembly for conveying light from each of plurality of scintillators to a respective each of a plurality of photosensors in a radiation detector, the light guide assembly having a top planar surface and a bottom planar surface generally parallel to the top surface, comprising:

• an array of generally frustum-shaped light guides made of a light-transmissive material, each light guide having a first major planar surface having a first surface area and a first edge thereabout, a second major planar surface generally parallel to the first surface and having a second surface area which is greater than the first surface area, and a thickness T between the first and second surfaces, the array being bounded by the top planar surface, the bottom planar surface and a peripheral boundary extending about the light guides generally perpendicularly between the top and bottom planar surfaces, the light guides being arranged with their first and second surfaces disposed coplanar with the top and bottom planar surfaces, respectively, so as to provide an inner gap between adjacent light guides, wherein each inner gap has a generally triangular or generally trapezoidal gap profile and a spacing S as measured between the first edges of the adjacent light guides, and wherein an outer gap around the periphery of the outermost light guides is defined by the plane of the top planar surface, the outer sides of the outermost light guides and the peripheral boundary;
• and
• an optical isolation frame comprising a frame of interconnected slats made of an opaque material, wherein the slats are arranged and profiled to correspondingly match the respective arrangement and profiles of the inner gaps and outer gap of the light guide array;
• wherein the light guide array and optical isolation frame are bonded to each other such that the slats of the optical isolation frame are disposed within their corresponding gaps in the light guide array.