Detailed analysis of a previously uninvestigated feature in lanthanum bromide scintillation crystals intrinsic background

Lanthanum halide scintillation crystals represent the state of the art of the scintillators technology for gamma ray spectroscopy. They feature a short decaying time (<30ns), high light yield, good detection efficiency and an optimal energy resolution (<2.9% at 662keV). Lanthanum halides also present an intense intrinsic background caused by the radioactive decay of 138La and 227Ac contaminations, which cover all the lower energies up to 3MeV.