Scintillation Characterizations of Tl2LiLuCl6: Ce3+ Single Crystal

TL;DR

This study characterizes the scintillation properties of Tl2LiLuCl6:Ce3+ single crystals with varying Ce concentrations, demonstrating their potential for high-efficiency X-ray and gamma-ray detection in medical imaging.

Contribution

First comprehensive analysis of scintillation properties of Tl2LiLuCl6:Ce3+ crystals with different Ce doping levels, highlighting their suitability for radiation detection applications.

Findings

Energy resolution of 5.6% (FWHM) at 1% Ce doping

Light yield of approximately 27,000 photons/MeV

Observation of three decay time components

Abstract

0.5%, 1%, 3% and 5% Ce-concentration single crystals of Tl2LiLuCl6 were grown from the melt using two zone vertical Bridgman technique. X-ray induced emission spectra showed Ce3+ emission between 370 nm and 540 nm wavelength range. Energy resolution, light yield and decay time of the grown samples were measured under {\gamma}-ray excitation at room temperature. Energy resolution of 5.6% (FWHM) with 27,000+-2700 light yield is found for 1%Ce doped sample. For the same dopant concentration, three decay time components are also observed. Variation of scintillation properties is observed as a function of dopant concentration in this material.This material will provide excellent detection efficiency for X- and {\gamma}-rays due to its high effective Z-number and density. It is expected that this scintillor will be a potential detector for the medical imaging techniques.