Method of preparing scintillation materials with reduced afterglow

A method for fabricating a scintillation material having a modified afterglow, the method comprising the steps of:

• placing, inside a container, an amount of an alkali halide host material doped with a scintillation activator and a second amount of a compound supplying a dopant selected from the group consisting of a dopant capable of introducing an auxiliary luminescent cation in the host material, a dopant capable of introducing a mismatch of cation charge in the host material, and a dopant capable of introducing an anion size and electronegativity mismatch in the host material, the second amount being such that a molar concentration of the dopant is between substantially 0.1% and substantially 10%;
• sealing the container under vacuum;
• situating the sealed container in a heated zone, a temperature of the heated zone being such that the doped host material and the dopant melt;
• and
• displacing the sealed container with respect the heated zone, a rate of displacement being selected such that the melted host material and dopant cool at a rate at which crystallization initiates.