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Single crystals of Eu2+-activated SrI2, one of the most leading-edge scintillators for gamma-ray spectroscopy applications, have a low radioactive background, excellent energy resolution of 2.6%–3% at 662 keV, and high light yield of 80 000–120 000 photons/MeV. In this article, tetravalent ions codoping, namely, Hf4+ codoping, was used to enhance its scintillation performance. $\emptyset 12$ mm diameter SrI2:Eu2+ single crystals codoped with 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 at% Hf4+ were successfully grown by the multiampoule Bridgman method. All grown crystals are highly transparent, crack-free, and inclusion-free. The effects of Hf4+ codoping concentration on the optical and scintillation properties were studied. The gamma-ray energy resolutions of SrI2:Eu single crystals can be improved from 3.4% to 3.1% at 662 keV, and from 6.6% to 6.0% at 122 keV upon 0.05 at% Hf4+ codoping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerium-doped YAlO3:Ce (YAP:Ce) is an interesting oxide scintillator that exhibits a wider range of light yield nonproportionality on a sample-to-sample basis than most other well-known oxide scintillators. In general, most oxide materials, such as Bi4Ge3O12 and Lu2SiO5:Ce, are thought to have an intrinsic proportional response that is nearly constant between samples and independent of growth conditions. Since light yield nonproportionality is responsible for degrading the achievable energy resolution of all known scintillators, it is important to understand what contributes to the behavior. In an attempt to understand if the phenomenon can be affected by growth parameters or by other means, seven samples of YAP:Ce were collected from various sources, and eight samples were grown in-house using the Czochralski method. Based on optical and scintillation measurement as well as direct measurement of the cerium concentration, it was determined that the light yield proportionality in YAP:Ce is strongly related to the cerium concentration. Samples that were found to have higher relative cerium concentration displayed a more proportional light yield response. In addition, it was determined that samples with higher cerium concentration also exhibit a faster decay time and an enhanced energy resolution when compared to samples with less cerium. It was also determined that growth in a reducing atmosphere can effectively suppress a parasitic optical absorption band. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Single crystals of Gd_3Ga_3A l_2O12:Ce with Ca, B and Ba codopants were successfully grown using the Czochralski technique. The samples of each composition were irradiated to 10 kGy and 100 kGy gamma dose to determine the radiation induced absorption. The Ca co-doped crystal was found to have maximum induced absorption, while B and Ba co-doped were found to be more radiation hard. The reduction in transmission could be partially restored at room temperature without any annealing treatment of the crystals. The additional absorption was also measured after annealing the crystals in reducing environment and compared with the radiation induced absorption. Thermoluminescence measurements were carried out to explain the defect structure and recovery of the transmission reduction at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, nine different samples of \ YAIO3:{\ {Ce}} have been collected and analyzed. The light yield non-proportionality of each sample was measured and used to classify each sample as proportional or non-proportional. A variety of scintillation and optical measurements were conducted on each sample, and the proportional samples were generally found to have a higher light output and better energy resolution. In addition, a strong linear correlation was found between scintillation decay time and the degree of non-proportionality. Based on absorption measurements as well as radioluminescence data, it was determined that the non-proportional samples all shared a range of increased absorption near the cerium 5d absorption edge between about 325 and 400 nm. The increased absorption has been reported in literature, and it is believed to be the result of a material defect introduced during growth. Thermoluminescence glow curves were measured for two representative \ YAIO3:{\ {Ce}} samples, one from each proportionality grouping, and it was determined that there was an observable change in defect structure, but there were no additional traps visible in the glow curves of either the proportional or non-proportional samples. However, the intensity of the 105 K thermoluminescence peak was found to be approximately a factor of two greater in the non-proportional samples. Since the lifetime of this peak is known to be between 25 and 81 ns, it was determined to be the likely cause of the slower decay in the non-proportional samples. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The temperature dependence of scintillation decay and rise time was measured for GGAG:Ce and Ca-codoped GGAG:Ce crystals in the temperature range of 10 K to 400 K. The decay and rise times were found to increase with decreasing temperature in the case of GGAG:Ce crystals, while Ca codoping modifies the kinetics such that decay and rise times are constant with the change in temperature. In order to obtain a better understanding of the role of trap centers in the temperature dependence of scintillation kinetics, spectrally resolved thermoluminescence (TL) properties were also studied for these crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the effects of boron and calcium co-doping on the measured energy resolution of Gd3Ga3Al2O12:Ce (GGAG: Ce). For this study, three samples of GAGG were grown using the Czochralski method. The first sample was doped with Ce^3+ and was used as a reference for comparison. The next two samples were additionally doped with either B^3+ or Ca^2+. The boron co-doped sample was found to have an overall improved performance when compared to the reference sample. The light output of the GGAG:Ce,B was measured to be 10% greater than the reference sample. In addition, the sample was found to have less charge trapping and a more linear relative light yield response. These factors led to an observed improvement in energy resolution from 9% in the reference sample to 7.8% in the B^3+ co-doped sample. Co-doping with Ca^2+ led to an overall reduction in charge trapping; however, the sample suffered a 30% reduction in light output, and it was found to have a less linear relative light yield than the reference sample. Its energy resolution was measured to be 10.1%. The relationship between the measured energy resolution and the other measured properties in these samples is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature dependence of the photoluminescence properties of Gd2SiO5:Ce,Ca crystals was found to be significantly affected by Ca codoping and shows that presence of additional energy levels in these crystals provides nonradiative energy transfer. The excitation and emission bands also broaden with codoping due to presence of these additional energy levels. Therefore Ca codoping in Gd2SiO5 crystals decreases the scintillation decay very strongly and has a strong adverse affect on scintillation light yield, different from the effect in other members of the oxyorthosilicate family such as Lu2SiO5 and Y2SiO5. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Experimental studies of LSO:Ce crystals co-doped with various concentrations of Ca are presented. Photoluminescence decay time, excitation and emission spectra, thermal response and X-ray excited luminescence are investigated as a function of Ca concentration. Experimental data show Ca co-doping does not alter the energy level structure of either Ce1 or Ce2, but reduces the relative population of Ce2 to Ce1. Thus, the luminescence from Ce2 is suppressed, which contributes to the fast scintillation decay of Ca co-doped LSO:Ce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study of five 5 x 5 x 5 mm³ LSO:Ce samples with different co-dopings of calcium, from 0 to 0.4% is reported. All the results are compared to those obtained with selected 10 x 10 x 5 mm³ LSO crystal, tested in previous studies. The influence of Ca co-dopant on scintillator parameters was studied using a Photonis XP20D0 fast timing photomultiplier. The tests included measurements of light output in terms of number of photoelectrons, measurements of time resolution in coincidence experiments with annihilation quanta from a 22Na gamma source, and decay time constant calculations on the basis of timing spectra obtained using the Bollinger-Thomas single photon method. Also energy resolution for 662 keV from 137Cs gamma source is mentioned at the end of the paper. The results showed the significant influence of the Ca co-dopant on the properties of the LSO scintillators. For low Ca concentrations of 0.1%, photoelectron number and energy resolution were improved up to 7800 phe/MeV and 7.3% respectively. On the other hand the shortest decay time constants were obtained for higher concentrations of 0.3% and 0.4% of Ca giving values equal to about 30 ns. The time resolution improvement was similar for all the samples and calculated values for a single detector were equal to about 140 ps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low temperature (∼35 K) measurements of the scintillation kinetics of Y2SiO5 : Ce (YSO:Ce) have previously illustrated that shallow electron traps can play an important role in the scintillation mechanism. In addition, divalent calcium co-doping of isostructural Lu2SiO5 : Ce (LSO:Ce) has been shown to eliminate shallow electron traps and decrease scintillation decay time while maintaining high light output. Here we investigate the effect of Ca2+ codoping on the trap populations and scintillation kinetics of YSO:Ce. Single crystals were grown with Ca2+ concentrations up to 0.5 at% relative to Y. Thermoluminescence measurements indicate a significant reduction in shallow traps, and a marked change in the scintillation kinetics can be seen in the scintillation time profiles as a result of Ca2+ codoping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]