Luminescence and scintillation properties of Ce3+-doped P2O5-Li2CO3-GdBr3-Al2O3 glasses

• Published in: Journal of non-crystalline solids 2021-09, Vol.567, p.120914, Article 120914
• Main Authors: Ntarisa, Amos Vincent, Saha, Sudipta, Aryal, Pabitra, Kim, H.J., Khan, Arshad, Quang, Nguyen Duy, Pandey, Indra Raj, Kaewkhao, J., Kothan, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CeBr3; Decay time; Luminescence; Phosphate glass; Scintillation
• ISSN: 0022-3093; 1873-4812
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2021.120914

•Successfully fabricated glasses of (65-x)P2O5:20Li2CO3:10GdBr3:5Al2O3:xCeBr3.•Increased amount of O eliminating Br was noticed in EDS data.•4f energy state of Gd3+ to 5d energy band of Ce3+ energy transfer was observed.•The fastest decay component was observed as 29 ns with 266 nm pulsed laser.•A clear α-peak was observed in pulse height spectrum with 241Am source. A series of glass samples were fabricated with the composition of (65-x)P2O5:20Li2CO3:10GdBr3:5Al2O3:xCeBr3 (where, x = 0.5,1,2,3,4). The powder X-ray diffraction measurements were performed to verify the amorphous structure of the prepared glass samples. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed an interesting phenomenon of oxygen bridging eliminating Br (Bromine) from the initial compounds. The luminescence characteristics of the samples were studied using X-rays and UV–Vis excitations. Characteristics Ce3+ emission was observed at 350 nm including energy transfer from 4f energy state of Gd3+ to 5d energy band of Ce3+. The fast decay component was observed as 37 ns, 42 ns, and 44 ns for the UV, α-particles, and γ-ray excitations, respectively. The intermediate and slow components were observed for α-particles, and γ-rays excitations indicating Gd3+ to Ce3+ energy transfer and 4f-4f transitions of Gd3+ -ions accordingly. The scintillation property was studied with α-particles using a 241Am source.