Growth, luminescence and scintillation properties of Pr3+, Ce3+ co-doped Li6Y(BO3)3 crystal

• Published in: Radiation measurements 2019-05, Vol.124, p.132-136
• Main Authors: Zhang, Jianyu, Yin, Jie, Jiang, Yong, Du, Fei, Pan, Shangke, Li, Xing, Pan, Jianguo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Borate; Crystal growth; Czochralski; Scintillator; Thermal neutron detection
• ISSN: 1350-4487; 1879-0925
• DOI: 10.1016/j.radmeas.2019.04.008

Pr:Li6Y(BO3)3 and Pr,Ce:Li6Y(BO3)3 crystals were grown by the Czochralski method. The luminescence properties of the Pr:Li6Y(BO3)3 and Pr,Ce:Li6Y(BO3)3 crystals, such as their optical transmission, photoluminescence and X-ray induced luminescence spectra were investigated. The scintillation properties of the multi-channel energy spectrum of the Pr,Ce:Li6Y(BO3)3 crystal under thermal neutrons and gamma-ray excitation were also studied. The energy resolutions of the Pr,Ce:Li6Y(BO3)3 crystal, which had a size of 8 × 7 × 2 mm3, excited by moderated 252Cf for the 10B (n,α)7Li and 6Li (n,α)3H reactions were determined to be 42% and 16%, respectively. The decay time under 320 nm UV light excitation was fitted to be 27 ns. Therefore the Pr,Ce:Li6Y(BO3)3 crystal is a promising fast scintillator for thermal neutron detection with good energy resolution, fast decay time and possible pulse-height discrimination ability. •Pr3+, Ce3+ co-doped Li6Y(BO3)3 crystals were grown using Czochralski method.•The energy resolution of Pr,Ce:LYBO crystal for 10B (n,α)7Li reaction is 42%.•The energy resolution of Pr,Ce:LYBO crystal for 6Li (n,α)3H reaction is 16%.•The photoluminescence decay time of Pr,Ce:Li6Y(BO3)3 crystal is 27 ns.