What type of device is used to record light flashes from a scintillation crystal?

The device specifically designed to record light flashes emitted from a scintillation crystal is indeed a photomultiplier tube. Scintillation crystals are used in various imaging applications, including nuclear medicine and radiation detection, where they convert high-energy photons into lower-energy visible light. The photomultiplier tube plays a critical role in detecting this faint light.

When a scintillation crystal is excited by ionizing radiation, it produces light flashes that need to be amplified to be detected. The photomultiplier tube achieves this by using a series of dynodes to multiply the number of electrons produced in response to the initial light flash, resulting in a measurable electrical signal.

While photodiodes and charge-coupled devices can also detect light, they operate differently from photomultiplier tubes and are not the traditional choice for scintillation detection, particularly in applications like gamma cameras. A gamma camera itself is a system that may utilize a photomultiplier tube for detecting light from scintillation crystals in gamma imaging, but the specific device dedicated solely to recording the light flashes is the photomultiplier tube.