Scintillation efficiency of binary Li2O-2SiO2 glass doped with Ce3+ and Tb3+ ions

Abstract

Highlights The photo-luminescence and scintillation properties of binary Li2O-2SiO2 glasses doped with Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ were investigated;  Li2O-2SiO2 glasses doped with Tb 3+ showed scintillation light yield up to 31000 ph/MeV. AbstractPhoto-and radioluminescent properties of lithium silicate glasses doped with Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ ions were evaluated. Glasses doped with Ce 3+ ions exhibit a shift of radioluminescence to photo-luminescence band. This effect was explained by a distribution of the crystal field strength in the activator sites, what results in the competition between different types of Ce 3+ ions in absorbing excitation energy from the matrix and limits a light yield of the Ce 3+ doped glass. We also investigated the possibility to use Tb 3+ ion instead of Ce 3+ as an alternative activator for a glass doping. Spin-orbit interaction plays a major role in the formation of electronic terms in Tb 3+ , where as an effect of the crystal field is small enough to form a distribution of emitting centers. Tb 3+ -doped samples demonstrate light yields up to 31000 ph/MeV with the concentration quenching starting at the levels of 10 at %. We also studied the effect of luminescence sensitization of Tb 3+ ions by Ce 3+ in the glasses co-doped with Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ . IntroductionCe 3+ -doped binary oxide glasses and glass ceramics containing metal oxides and silica were found to be suitable matrices for the preparation of scintillating materials [1-3]. They have crystalline structure what allows for additional improvement of the material properties. By introducing fluorine in the ligands and varying the content of metal oxide in the final composition one can obtain luminescent materials with various properties: high light yield of both scintillation and photoluminescence, or quenched scintillation and highly efficient photoluminescence [4]. Among such materials, Ce 3+ -doped Li2O-SiO2 glass [5-8] is one of the most widely used scintillation materials for thermal neutron detection.

Luminescent properties of binary MO-2SiO2 (M = Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+) glasses doped with Ce3+, Tb3+ and Dy3+

“…Contrary to cerium, dysprosium and terbium can be easily stabilized in their trivalent state, independently on the atmosphere employed during thermal treatments in glass production. Both activators display sharp emission lines in the 350-650 nm spectral range, matching well the spectral sensitivity of silicon photo-multipliers (SiPM) [12,25,26].…”

“…When doped with luminescent ions, glasses may display an effective luminescence signal and be promising candidates to substitute single crystals in different fields. In past years the possibility to obtain SiO2-based fibers [6,7], BaO-2SiO2:Ce (DSB:Ce) [8,9], Li2O-2SiO2:Ce (DSL:Ce) [10,11] and Li2O-2SiO2:Tb (DSL:Tb) [12] glasses with high scintillation efficiency was demonstrated. However, a number of problems are limiting the progress especially in the area of silicates [12].…”

“…We previously demonstrated that 3CaO-2SiO2 glasses, doped with Ce 3+ ions, may be useful as wavelength shifters for UV emitting CeF3 single crystalline scintillator [27]. Moreover, binary Li2O-2SiO2:Tb glass was found to be a high light yield scintillator, promising for neutron detection [12], whereas BaO-2SiO2:Ce glass is considered as a prospective material to be applied in high energy physics detectors [9]. The aim of this work is the study of the photo-and radio-luminescence properties of disilicate MO-2SiO2 (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) glasses, selectively doped with Ce 3+ , Tb 3+ or Dy 3+ .…”

A Review on X-ray Excited Emission Decay Dynamics in Inorganic Scintillator Materials

“…Thus, the emission intensity and radiative decay time change with such dopants. More reports on binary oxides can be found in the literature [108,109]. β-Ga 2 O 3 is a wide bandgap (4.85 eV) [101] scintillator with very fast decay time.…”

“…Thus, the emission intensity and radiative decay time change with such dopants. More reports on binary oxides can be found in the literature [108,109].…”