Rare earth-doped LiLuF4 microcrystalline for high-efficiency scintillation and X-ray imaging applications.

Scintillators play a vital role in high-energy physics, medical imaging, security inspection, etc. Here, we designed and prepared a highly efficient scintillator of Ce,Tb-codoped LiLuF 4 , which was synthesized by a hydrothermal method using low-cost raw materials. The microcrystalline scintillator exhibits the strong luminescence of rare earth ion, which has a characteristic green fluorescence emission with a quantum yield of 71.59%. This material has a strong X-ray response, superior light output (16,509 ph/MeV), excellent ray cut-off capability and absolute stability. Based on micron-level powdered compounds, we used direct coating to manufacture a scintillation film with a size of 5.5 cm × 8.0 cm for X-ray imaging testing. The imaging test shows that the highly stable scintillation film not only has a spatial resolution capability of more than 10.0 LP/mm but also has great potential to be prepared as a flexible scintillator, which exhibited excellent performance as an potential scintillation detection material. Tetragonal LLF:Ce,Tb MCs exhibit bright and sensitive radioluminescence with the energy transfer process between rare earth ions, and its composite film can provide a decent spatial resolution for X-ray imaging applications. [Display omitted] • Lu element was used instead of Y element to improve the scintillation property of the material. • Ce ion sensitizing Tb ion strategy was adopted to improve the radiation light output of the material. • A large area scintillation film with transmittance of 79.92% was successfully prepared by direct coating method. • The spatial resolution of the scintillation film for radiation detection is more than 10.0 LP/mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]