Luminescent and scintillating properties of lanthanum fluoride nanocrystals in response to gamma/neutron irradiation: codoping with Ce activator, Yb wavelength shifter, and Gd neutron captor

Abstract

A novel concept for detection and spectroscopy of gamma rays, and detection of thermal neutrons based on codoped lanthanum fluoride nanocrystals containing gadolinium is presented.The trends of colloidal synthesis of the mentioned material, LaF3 co-doped with Ce as the activator, Yb as the wavelength-shifter and Gd as the neutron captor, is reported. Nanocrystals of the mentioned material were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), optical absorption, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Gamma detection and its potential spectroscopy feature have been confirmed. The neutron detection capability has been confirmed by experiments performed using a 252 Cf neutron source.