An enhanced vision system includes an image intensifier that includes a phosphor screen. The phosphor screen includes a thin-film phosphor layer deposited, patterned, transferred, or otherwise disposed on the substrate using a thin-film deposition technique. A conductive layer is deposited across at least a portion of the phosphor layer. The relatively smooth morphology of the phosphor layer beneficially permits the use of a relatively thin conductive layer. The use of a relatively thin conductive layer advantageously reduces the operating voltage between an electron multiplier and the phosphor screen. A secondary electron emitter may be disposed across at least a portion of the conductive layer.

An enhanced vision system includes an image intensifier that includes a phosphor screen. The phosphor screen includes a thin-film phosphor layer deposited, patterned, transferred, or otherwise disposed on the substrate using a thin-film deposition technique. A conductive layer is deposited across at least a portion of the phosphor layer. The relatively smooth morphology of the phosphor layer beneficially permits the use of a relatively thin conductive layer. The use of a relatively thin conductive layer advantageously reduces the operating voltage between an electron multiplier and the phosphor screen. A secondary electron emitter may be disposed across at least a portion of the conductive layer.

An object of the present invention is to provide a radiological image conversion screen where the flexibility and the storage stability of the radiological image conversion screen are sufficiently kept without phthalic acid ester while conventional sensitivity and sharpness being maintained, and another object thereof is to provide a radiological image conversion screen where a plasticizer in a phosphor layer is suppressed from volatilization and from transfer to other layers and/or films. The objects are solved by a radiological image conversion screen comprising a support substrate and a phosphor layer stacked on the support substrate, wherein the phosphor layer comprises phosphor particles, a polyvinyl acetal resin, and a carboxylic acid ester having an ether group.

A method for producing a ceramic scintillator comprising the steps of mixing a rare earth compound with sulfuric acid and/or sulfate to cause their reaction to obtain a product; calcining the product to obtain calcined powder; reducing the calcined powder to obtain rare earth oxysulfide powder; molding the rare earth oxysulfide powder to obtain a green body; and sintering the green body; a pulverization step being conducted to adjust the particle sizes of the product and/or the calcined powder at least before the reduction step.

A scintillator panel includes at least one light emitting layer and at least one non-light emitting layer laminated, wherein the light emitting layer contains phosphor particles, and when the thickness of the light emitting layer is represented by A, a relationship among a cumulative 50% particle diameter D.sub.50 of the phosphor particles based on volume average, a cumulative 90% particle diameter D.sub.90 of the phosphor particles based on volume average, and the thickness A satisfies,

D.sub.50<A and D.sub.90<2A.

To suppress a decrease in optical output of a scintillator. A scintillator includes a sintered body of 1 mm.sup.3 or less that contains a rare earth oxysulfide. In a composition image obtained by observing a cross-section of the sintered body under a scanning electron microscope, the sum of the number of oxide regions that contain at least one of a rare earth oxide different from the rare earth oxysulfide and an impurity metal oxide and the number of sulfide regions that contain at least one of a rare earth sulfide different from the rare earth oxysulfide and an impurity metal sulfide, which exist in a unit area of 500 m500 m, is zero or more and five or less. Each of the oxide regions and the sulfide regions has a major axis of zero or more and 100 m or less.

A phosphor of an embodiment has a composition represented by a composition formula: Na.sub.xRM.sub.yS.sub.zO.sub.a, where R represents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Y, La, Gd, and Lu, M represents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Bi, Ce, Eu, and Pr, x is an atomic ratio satisfying 0.93<x<1.07, y is an atomic ratio satisfying 0.00002<y<0.01, z is an atomic ratio satisfying 1.9<z<2.1, and a is an atomic ratio satisfying 0.001<a<0.05.

A scintillator comprises a sintered body having a volume of 1 mm.sup.3 or less. The sintered body includes a crystal region of a rare earth oxysulfide. The number of polycrystal bodies each having a different composition from that of the crystal region is 200 or less per a unit area of 100 m100 m of a cross section of the sintered body.

Luminescent taggant compositions, luminescent materials that include luminescent taggants, and articles including luminescent taggants are provided herein. In an embodiment, a luminescent taggant composition includes a first luminescent taggant, a second luminescent taggant, and a third luminescent taggant. The first luminescent taggant includes a first emitting ion that produces a first emission in a first taggant emission band when exposed to excitation energy. The second luminescent taggant includes a second emitting ion that is different from the first emitting ion and that produces a second emission in a second taggant emission band that is different from the first taggant emission band when exposed to excitation energy. The first luminescent taggant is substantially free of the second emitting ion and the second luminescent taggant is substantially free of the first emitting ion. The third luminescent taggant includes the first emitting ion and the second emitting ion.

A security element has at least two luminescent substances, in which the security element has a first and a second luminescent substance which have a substantially identical, joint emission band. The first or the second luminescent substance, or both luminescent substances, have at least one excitation band that leads to an emission at the joint emission band only in the case of the first or the second luminescent substance.