Luminescence and Scintillation Properties of a CeBr3 Single Crystal.

Crystal growth, luminescence, and scintillation properties of a CeBr3 crystal are presented. The crystal was grown with Bridgman method using two-zone transparent furnace and cut to ϕ10 × 10 mm³. The investigation of luminescence and scintillation properties of the CeBr3 was performed under the excitation by ultraviolet and γ-rays at room temperature. The emission spectrum of the CeBr3 was observed in the range of near ultraviolet to violet, which is due to 5d → 4f transition of the Ce3+. The decay time of the Ce3+ emission was measured to be approximately 20 ns. The energy resolution of the CeBr3 single crystal was obtained to be 4.9% for the 137Cs 662 keV γ-ray. The relative signal of the CeBr3 crystal by the 137Cs γ-ray is about three times higher than that of a CsI:Tl crystal when bi-alkali PMT was used. The nonproportionality in the γ-ray energy of the crystal was also measured. The study showed that the CeBr3 crystal is the promising candidate for the PET application. The CeBr3 crystal with high light output and fast decay time affords its use for the particle detection in high counting rate environment such as nuclear and high-energy physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]