Sol-gel coating of scintillating crystals

We propose a new method for the coating of scintillating crystals that comb ines low thickness and optical efficiency. In this method, the air-gap betw een crystal and wrapping is replaced by a sol-gel optical coating of very l ow refractive index (< 1.30). The external wrapping is replaced by a diffus ive or reflective layer, which can also be made by the sol-gel technique. T his leads to a thin coating of a few microns, with light collection propert ies comparable to usual wrapping, good mechanical and radiation resistance.