Radiation Hardness of Ce:(Gd, La)₂Si₂O₇ Scintillator Using 80-MeV Alpha Rays

Abstract

Ce-doped (Gd, La) 2 Si 2 O 7 scintillator has a high light output, fast decay time, and it has been expected to be applied in various fields. One of the applications is to use in the space for astronomy, and therefore, the evaluation of the radiation hardness is required. We grew a Ce-doped (Gd, La) 2 Si 2 O 7 single crystal by the Czochralski technique, and evaluated its radiation hardness using 80-MeV alpha rays in Tohoku University with a total dose of approximately 20,000 Gy. The light outputs and decay times were slightly degraded after the irradiation by few %. Only the energy resolution was degraded dramatically in the 80-MeV alpha-ray range, and Ce-doped (Gd, La) 2 Si 2 O 7 scintillator was found to have good radiation hardness for alpha rays.