Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A material for radiation detection, comprising a scintillator material comprising a halide ofa rare-earth metal; anda group-13 element,wherein the group-13 element forms covalent bonds with the halogen; the halide beingA′(1−x)B′xCa(1−y)EuyC′3,A′(1−x)B′xM′2Br7(1−y)C′7y,A′(1−x)B′xM″(1−y)EuyI3,A′3(1−x)B′3xM″(1−y)EuyI5,A′(1−x)B′xM″2(1−y)Eu2yI5,A′(1−x)B′xM′2Cl7,M′(1−x)B′xC′3, orany combination thereof,wherein:A′=Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs or any combination thereof,B′=B, Al, Ga, In, Tl or any combination thereof,C′=Cl, Br, I or any combination thereof,M′ consist of Ce, Sc, Y, La, Lu, Gd, Pr, Tb, Yb, Nd or any combination thereof,M″ consists of Sr, Ca, Ba or any combination of thereof,where 0<x<1, and where 0<y<1. 2. The material of claim 1, wherein the group-13 element comprises thallium (Tl). 3. The material of claim 2, made from a rare-earth metal halide comprising LaBr3, LaCl3, CeBr3, CeCl3 or LuI3 or a combination thereof, and a halide of a group-13 element in stoichiometric amounts. 4. The material of claim 3, made from a rare-earth metal halide comprises LaBr3 and a halide of a group-13 element in stoichiometric amounts, and cerium (Ce). 5. The material of claim 2, wherein the rare-earth metal comprises at least two rare-earth metal elements. 6. The material of claim 1, made from a rare-earth metal halide comprising LaBr3, LaCl3, CeBr3, CeCl3, LuI3 or a combination thereof, and a halide of a group-13 element in stoichiometric amounts. 7. The material of claim 1, wherein the rare-earth metal comprises at least two rare-earth metal elements. 8. The material of claim 1, wherein the halide defines a crystal lattice having a symmetry that is different from a symmetry of a crystal lattice defined by a halide of the rare-earth halide without the group-13 element. 9. The material of claim 1, wherein the halide is a stoichiometric halide of the formulaA′(1−x)B′xM′2Br7(1−y)C′7y,orA′(1−x)B′xM′2Cl7. 10. The material of claim 1, the scintillator material being a single crystal or polycrystal. 11. A radiation detector, comprising:a material of claim 1 adapted to generate photons in response to an impinging radiation; anda photon detector optically coupled to the scintillator material, arranged to receive the photons generated by the scintillator material and adapted to generate an electrical signal indicative of the photon generation. 12. An imaging method, comprising:using at least one radiation detector of claim 11 to receive radiation from a plurality of radiation sources distributed in an object to be imaged and generate a plurality of signals indicative of the received radiation; andbased on the plurality of signals, deriving a spatial distribution of an attribute of the object. 13. The material of claim 1, wherein the halide is a stoichiometric halide. 14. The material of claim 13, wherein the halide is single crystalline or polycrystalline. 15. A method of making a scintillation material, comprising:making a melt by heating a stoichiometric mixture of:a rare-earth metal halide, anda salt of a group-13 element; andgrowing a single crystal from the melt, wherein the rare-earth metal halide and salt of a group-13 element are present in the stoichiometric mixture in a ratio to produce a single crystal of:A′(1−x)B′xCa(1−y)EuyC′3,A′(1−x)B′xM′2Br7(1−y)C′7y,A′(1−x)B′xM″(1−y)EuyI3,A′3(1−x)B′3xM″(1−y)EuyI5,A′(1−x)B′xM″2(1−y)Eu2yI5,A′(1−x)B′xM′2Cl7, orany combination thereof,wherein:A′=Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs or any combination thereof,B′=B, Al, Ga, In, Tl or any combination thereof,C′=Cl, Br, I or any combination thereof,M′ consist of Ce, Sc, Y, La, Lu, Gd, Pr, Tb, Yb, Nd or any combination thereof,M″ consists of Sr, Ca, Ba or any combination of thereof,where 0<x<1, and where 0<y<1. 16. The material of claim 15, wherein the rare-earth metal halide and a salt of a group-13 element are present in the stoichiometric mixture in a ratio to produce a single crystal of:A′(1−x)B′xM′2Br7(1−y)C′7y,A′(1−x)B′xM′2Cl7, ora combination thereof. 17. A material for radiation detection, comprising a rare-earth metal halide scintillator compound co-doped with a group-13 element where the group-13 element forms covalent bonds with the halogen of the halide; and where the halide is:A′(1−x)B′xCa(1−y)EuyC′3,A′(1−x)B′xM′2Br7(1−y)C′7y,A′(1−x)B′xM″(1−y)EuyI3,A′3(1−x)B′3xM″(1−y)EuyI5,A′(1−x)B′xM″2(1−y)Eu2yI5,A′(1−x)B′xM′2Cl7,M′(1−x)B′xC′3, orany combination thereof,wherein:A′=Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs or any combination thereof,B′=B, Al, Ga, In, Tl or any combination thereof,C′=Cl, Br, I or any combination thereof,M′ consist of Ce, Sc, Y, La, Lu, Gd, Pr, Tb, Yb, Nd or any combination thereof,M″ consists of Sr, Ca, Ba or any combination of thereof,where 0<x<1, and where 0<y≤1. 18. The material of claim 17, wherein the group-13 element comprises Tl. 19. The material of claim 18, made from a rare-earth metal halide comprising LaBr3, LaCl3, CeBr3, CeCl3, LuI3 or a combination thereof, and a halide of a group-13 element in stoichiometric amounts. 20. The material of claim 17, wherein the rare-earth metal halide scintillator material comprises at least two rare-earth metal elements.