Methods and Apparatuses for Enhancing Scintillation with Optical Nanostructures for Scintillators, LEDs, and Laser Sources

Methods and systems are disclosed that enhance the yield and speed of emission and control the spectral and angular emission of light emitted by materials under irradiation by high-energy particles through a process known as scintillation. In each case, a photonic structure (of nano- or micron-scale feature sizes) is integrated with a scintillating material, and the photonic structure enhances the yield or controls the spectrum of the material. Various embodiments of this technology and practical demonstrations are disclosed.