Crystal Scintillator with a Sensitized Circuit for Converting Ionizing Radiation into the Visible Spectral Band

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Abstract

The inorganic compounds based on crystalline solid solutions are proposed as the materials for visually observable transformation of ionizing radiation. The energy spectra of Ca1-xLuxF2+x: Eu2+ crystals have showed that the light output is consistently increased upon an increase in the parameter Zeffect related to the advanced LuF3 content. The efficient excitation energy transfer between the impurity rare-earth ions Eu2+ and Pr3+ in the mixed crystals of Ca1-xLuxF2+x synthesized by the horizontal directional crystallization has been studied. The results of luminescence studies during registration of the γ-, X-ray and short-wave UVC radiation confirm the process of excitation energy transfer from the Eu2+ ions to Pr3+ in Ca1-xLuxF2+x and allow to consider the Eu2+ ions as an efficient sensitizer of Pr3+ ions. The sensitization-enhanced radiation of Pr3+ ions converts the UV radiation of Eu2+ excited by the γ-quanta into the visible spectral band.

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About the authors

Stepan E. Sarkisov

Kurchatov Institute

Author for correspondence.
Email: dr.stevesarkisov@gmail.com

Cand. of Sc. (Phys. & Math.), Deputy Head of Department

Russian Federation, Moscow

Valentin A. Yusim

Kurchatov Institute; Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Email: ValentinYusim@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4536-058X

Cand. of Sc. (Eng.), Leading Researcher; Leading Researcher at the Laboratory of Photonics and Organic Electronics; Associate Professor

Russian Federation, Moscow; Moscow; Dolgoprudny

Denis N. Chausov

Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: d.chausov@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1287-6427

Dr. of Sc. (Phys. & Math.), Associate Professor, Head of
the Laboratory of Photonics and Organic Electronics

Russian Federation, Moscow

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Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
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2. Fig. 1. Luminescence of the samples of double fluoride crystals CaF2 – LuF3 doped with the Eu2+ and Pr3+ ions under the influence of X-ray radiation (March-200)

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3. Fig. 2. Amplitude spectra of pulses of the 137Cs source (662 keV), measured by the scintillators: Ca0.948Lu0.05Eu0.002F2.053 (1), Ca0.898Lu0.1Eu0.002F2.103 (2) and a reference one NaI(Tl) (3)

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4. Fig. 3. Spectral distribution by the wavelengths of absorption and luminescence bands of impurity ions in the Ca0.95Lu0.05F2.05 crystal

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5. Fig. 4. Multiphonic nonradiative relaxation: a) diagram of excitation energy transfer from the Eu2+ ion to the Pr3+ ion in the Ca1–xLuxF2+x crystal; b) quenching mechanism diagram in the paired centers Pr3+(I) – Pr3+(II) (the thin arrows on the diagrams of the R3+ ion levels indicate the intermultiplet absorption and luminescence transitions; the wavy arrows indicate the nonradiative transitions; the bold arrows indicate scintillation transition; ET – excitation energy transfer Eu → Pr)

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6. Fig. 5. Fragment of the survey luminescence spectrum of the Ca0.898Lu0.1Eu0.002F2 crystal: 0.3 mol. % Pr3+ (solid line) and 1.0 mol. % Pr3+ (dashed line) at 300 K and λexc. = 300 nm

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7. Fig. 6. Dependence of the luminescence spectrum intensity of CaF2 : 0.3 mol. % Eu2+ at various concentrations of the Pr3+ ions

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8. Fig. 7. Sensitization mechanism effect: a) enhancement of the Pr3+ ionic emission at the 3Р0 → 3H6,3F2 transitions in the Eu2+-doped crystal Ca0.938Lu0.05Eu0.002Pr0.01F2.062 as a result of efficient excitation energy transfer from the Eu2+ to Pr3+ ions; b) luminescence spectra of the concentration series of the Pr3+ ions at the3Р0 → 3H6,3F2 transitions in the Ca0.948Lu0.05Eu0.002F2 crystal at 300K: 1 mol. % Pr3+ (1); 2 mol. % Pr3+ (2); 3 mol. % Pr3+ (3)

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Copyright (c) 2025 Sarkisov S.E., Yusim V.A., Chausov D.N.