LuAG系列晶体研究进展

LuAG是一种非常优良的基质材料,稀土离子掺杂的LuAG系列晶体的研究在近几年又有了较大的发展,本文系统综述了LuAG晶体在国内外的研究进展,介绍了LuAG系列晶体的生长、性能、发光机理及该系列晶体优良的性能和广阔的应用前景,并探讨了目前LuAG系列晶体存在的问题及其未来的发展方向。     

石榴石闪烁材料的研究进展

稀土离子掺杂的石榴石闪烁材料是20世纪90年代以后发展出的新型氧化物闪烁体。以Ce~(3+)为发光中心的YAG与LuAG晶体是性能优良的闪烁体,具有纳秒级快衰减、高光产额等特性。而Pr~(3+)为发光中心的LuAG单晶以其更快的衰减时间,被认为是下一代的TOF-PET探测器用的关键材料之一。在此基础之上,由于YAG与LuAG陶瓷制备温度较低,有利于减少基质中的反位缺陷,从而实现对闪烁性能优化。而近年来,"缺陷工程"与"能带工程"两种新思想的提出,对石榴石单晶与陶瓷的优化提出新的思路,从而石榴石闪烁材料性能得到进一步提升。本文综合评述了石榴石单晶与陶瓷闪烁体的研究进展,着重介绍"缺陷工程"和"能带工程"两种思想在石榴石体系闪烁材料优化中的应用,最后对其发展前景进行了展望。     

石榴石闪烁材料的研究进展EI北大核心CSCD

稀土离子掺杂的石榴石闪烁材料是20世纪90年代以后发展出的新型氧化物闪烁体。以Ce^3＋为发光中心的YAG与LuAG晶体是性能优良的闪烁体,具有纳秒级快衰减、高光产额等特性。而Pr^3＋为发光中心的LuAG单晶以其更快的衰减时间,被认为是下一代的TOF-PET探测器用的关键材料之一。在此基础之上,由于YAG与LuAG陶瓷制备温度较低,有利于减少基质中的反位缺陷,从而实现对闪烁性能优化。而近年来,＂缺陷工程＂与＂能带工程＂两种新思想的提出,对石榴石单晶与陶瓷的优化提出新的思路,从而石榴石闪烁材料性能得到进一步提升。本文综合评述了石榴石单晶与陶瓷闪烁体的研究进展,着重介绍＂缺陷工程＂和＂能带工程＂两种思想在石榴石体系闪烁材料优化中的应用,最后对其发展前景进行了展望。     

Ce掺杂浓度对Ce,Ca:Lu3Al5O12陶瓷闪烁性能的影响(英文)

以共沉淀纳米粉体为原料,制备不同Ce掺杂浓度的x%(摩尔分数) Ce,0.15%Ca:Lu₃Al₅O₁₂(Ce,Ca:LuAG,x=0.1～0.5)闪烁陶瓷。在分析了Ce,Ca:Lu AG陶瓷的相组成和微观结构的基础上,研究了其闪烁特性与Ce浓度的关系,包括X射线激发发射光谱、光致发光衰减、闪烁衰减、光产额及快分量、余辉。当Ce浓度超过0.3%时,光致发光衰减的加速证实了浓度猝灭的发生。Ce,Ca:LuAG陶瓷的X射线激发发射强度和光产额在Ce浓度为0.3%时达到最大值。随着Ce浓度的增加,陶瓷的余辉水平逐渐降低。最后讨论了Ce,Ca:LuAG闪烁陶瓷的制备和性能优化的策略。     

硅酸铋（BSO）闪烁晶体的研究综述

硅酸铋（BSO）晶体是一种性能良好的新型闪烁晶体,在高能物理、空间科学、核医学等方面有着广泛的应用。综述了BSO晶体的发展历史、晶体结构、晶体性能及生长,从晶体掺杂、纤维晶体、闪烁陶瓷等方面讨论了近年来BSO晶体的研究进展。     

稀土铈离子掺杂镥铝石榴石光学透明闪烁陶瓷

首先简单介绍了国际上目前在闪烁透明陶瓷研究领域所涉及的材料体系、发展水平及存在的主要问题,然后重点介绍中国科学院上海硅酸盐研究所近年来在稀土铈离子掺杂镥铝石榴石(LuAG:Cze)透明闪烁陶瓷的制备、微观结构和光学性能等方面的研究结果。采用高温固相反应和共沉淀方法通过真空烧结工艺可制备透过率达77%的LuAG:Ce透明陶瓷。材料显微结构均匀,平均晶粒尺寸为10μm。在γ射线激发下、在国际上首次成功实现了闪烁输出,光产额为4818光子/MeV,为同样条件下测定的LuAG:Ce单晶的45%,锗酸铋(bismuth germanate,BGO)单晶的60%。最后,指出具有各向同性的立方材料体系、高质量粉体原料的制备以及降低光学散射损耗的有效方法是研制高质量光学透明陶瓷材料的关键因素。     

新型闪烁晶体SrI_2:Eu及研究进展

SrI2:Eu是一种性能优异的闪烁晶体,具有较大的原子序数、高的光输出、极低的能量分辨率和较小的余辉时间等优点。SrI2:Eu晶体适合于元素同位素甄别、安全检查及工业和医学X射线断层扫描、超高分辨X射线成像等领域。综述了新型闪烁晶体SrI2:Eu的闪烁性能和晶体生长研究成果;评述了晶体应用与晶体生长发展的方向;同时指出了该晶体开发过程中应解决的主要问题,如:原料处理、晶体生长、闪烁机理和器件应用等方面还需进一步加以研究,以推动该晶体的应用。     

氟化物闪烁晶体的研究进展与趋势

本文综述近年来氟化物闪烁晶体研究进展,简要介绍了氟化物晶体的基本特性和生长工艺,详细介绍了氟化物闪烁晶体的闪烁性能研究及发展,并对今后该类晶体的发展进行了展望,认为K(Y1-xLux)3F10和Ce1-xLuxF3混晶体系可能是两种有潜力的闪烁材料.     

无机闪烁晶体的研究现状与应用前景（上）

闪烁晶体因能够有效地把辐射能转换为光能而被用作探测高强度电离辐射的材料。本文比较系统地阐述了无机闪烁晶体的定义,种类,性能特征和评价标准,对钨酸铅晶体研究中存在的主要总是进行了讨论;介绍了闪烁晶体目前在工业,医疗诊断和高能物理实验研究中的应用情况。     

无机闪烁晶体的研究现状与应用前景（上）

闪烁晶体因能够有效地辐射能转换为光能面被和作探测高强度电离辐射的材料，本文比较系统地阐述了无机闪烁晶体的定义，种类，性能特征和评价标准，对钨酸铅晶体研究中存在的主要问题进行了讨论，介绍了闪烁晶体目前在工业，医疗诊断和高能物理实验研究中的应用情况。     

Fast Ce,Ca:LuAG scintillation ceramics for HEP: Fabrication,characterization, and computation

High-energy physics community is looking for a hard, fast, and low-cost scintillation material, and Ce:Lu₃Al₅O₁₂ (Ce:LuAG) ceramic is one of the competitive candidates. This work presents Ce,Ca:LuAG scintillation ceramics with good optical quality, and the influence of Ce and Ca concentrations on optical and scintillation properties was fully analyzed. At relatively low level of Ce concentration, the less Ca²⁺ content is needed to achieve a significant intensity increase in fast scintillation component while maintaining a relatively high light yield (LY). The introduction of only 0.1 at% Ca²⁺ could increase the LY_{0.5 μs}/LY_{3.0 μs} from 79.9% to 96.1% in Ce,Ca:LuAG ceramics of 0.1 at% Ce. First-principles investigations are further performed to reveal the tuning mechanisms of the scintillation properties of LuAG by Ce and Ca codoping. We show that the Fermi level shifts down with Ca codoping, which increases the Ce⁴⁺ content and decreases the depth of the electron traps (V_O), resulting to a faster decay. Moreover, the formation preference of Ca-V_O complexes over Ce-V_O leads to the suppression of the non-radiative decay of Ce via V_O. In summary, our study demonstrates the realization of the performance tuning of LuAG via Ce and Ca codoping.     

On fast LuAG:Ce scintillation ceramics with Ca2+ co-dopants

“Defect engineering” was a valid strategy to modify the performance of LuAG:Ce scintillator, usually realized by Me²⁺/Me⁺ co-doping. To investigate the effects of Ca²⁺ co-doping on the scintillation properties of LuAG:Ce, a set of LuAG:Ce ceramics with Ca²⁺ concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.5 at.% were manufactured. The absorption spectra, radioluminescence spectra (RL spectra), light yield, RL spectra as a function of temperature, decay time, and TSL curves of the ceramic products were carefully measured. With Ca²⁺ co-doping, the scintillation performance of LuAG:Ce ceramics was greatly improved. Especially for the 0.2 at.% Ca²⁺ co-doped one, it has a high light yield value of 24, 400 ph/MeV, a fast scintillation decay time of 48 ns, and a small slow component contamination. And the role of Ca²⁺ in the scintillation mechanism of LuAG:Ce ceramics was also discussed in this paper.     

Composition and properties tailoring in Mg2+ codoped non-stoichiometric LuAG:Ce,Mg scintillation ceramics

A comprehensive study of the optical, radioluminescence and scintillation properties of both the Lu³⁺ rich and Lu³⁺ deficient non-stoichiometric Lu_3+xAG:Ce,Mg (Lu_3+xAl₅O₁₂:Ce,Mg, x = −4, −1, +1 and +4 at.%) ceramics are performed, completed further by the microstructure and defects characterization. Small deviation from the stoichiometric composition as well as Mg²⁺ codoping plays a crucial role in ceramic transparency, radioluminescence intensity and the timing characteristics of scintillation response. The Lu_Al antisite defects could be suppressed efficiently by controlling Lu³⁺ content below stoichiometry of LuAG host. MgO (Mg²⁺ ions) as effective sintering aids, can improve both the optical quality and scintillation performance (light yield, scintillation decay times and the ratio of fast decay components). We generally discuss the composition dependence of defects and properties tailoring. We also performed the systematic comparative study with the stoichiometric LuAG:Ce,Mg ceramic and the commercial BGO and LuAG:Ce single crystals.     

A kind of bilayer structure ceramic scintillators designed for phoswich detectors

The phoswich detectors can determine the location of nuclear interactions with the matrix and it is an effective approach to improve the spatial resolution at the edge of the field of view in positron emission tomography. In this study, we proposed a kind of bilayer structure garnet ceramic scintillators for phoswich detectors. Bilayer Pr:LuAG/Ce:LuAG ceramic scintillations with different thickness ratio were fabricated through solid‐state reaction and vacuum sintering without further cutting or stacking process. The phase, microstructure, fluorescence, and scintillation properties were characterized and studied. The decay time of the Pr:LuAG layer was about 21.8 ns while that of the Ce:LuAG layer was 58.6 ns. Different 5d‐4f emission bands of 290‐450 and 475‐700 nm were observed in the Pr:LuAG layer and Ce:LuAG layer, respectively. These two features meet the basic requirements of phoswich detectors. Separation of interactions with γ‐ray in different layers has achieved in the pulse height spectra. These properties reveal that this kind of multilayer structure garnet ceramic scintillators have potential application value in the field of phoswich detectors.     

The influences of stoichiometry on the sintering behavior,optical and scintillation properties of Pr:LuAG ceramics

Sintering aids may enter the host lattice, create defects, and seriously deteriorate the scintillation properties of ceramic scintillators. In this study, the 0.3at%Pr:LuAG ceramics with different excess of Lu were fabricated by the solid-state reactive sintering without aids. The influences of stoichiometry on the sintering behaviors, optical and scintillation properties of the ceramics are systematically studied. The results show that the stoichiometric ceramics experience an abnormal grain growth during sintering. The Lu excess can restrain the abnormal grain growth of the ceramics because of the impurity drag effect. The excess Al₂O₃ as optical scattering centers, can also pin in the grain boundary to limit the fast migration of the grain boundaries. The light yield value of the as-sintered ceramics decreases with the increase of Lu content. After air-annealing, the ceramics with appropriate excess of Lu can achieve better optical quality and higher light yield compared to the stoichiometric Pr:LuAG ceramics.     

Optical and Scintillation Properties of Ce3+‐Doped LuAG and YAG Transparent Ceramics: A Comparative Study

Cerium‐doped lutetium aluminum garnet (LuAG:Ce) and yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG:Ce) transparent ceramics of same dimension were fabricated and their optical and scintillation properties were studied. LuAG:Ce transparent ceramic showed higher light yield under UV and X‐ray excitation with respect to YAG:Ce transparent ceramic. YAG:Ce transparent ceramic showed higher light yield under gamma excitation and better energy resolution, which could be due to the considerable amount of slower emission (38.5%) in LuAG:Ce as well as lower optical transparency with respect to YAG:Ce ceramic.     

Influence of cerium doping concentration on the optical properties of Ce,Mg:LuAG scintillation ceramics

Ce,Mg:LuAG scintillation ceramics with Ce dopant content ranging from 0.025?at.% to 0.3?at.% and constant 0.2?at.% Mg codoping were fabricated by solid-state reaction. The effects of Ce concentration and annealing conditions on the microstructure, optical quality and scintillation properties are studied in great details. Lattice parameters as well as the absorption, photoluminescence, radioluminescence and thermoluminescence characteristics are investigated as a function of Ce content. Both the photoluminescence and scintillation decays are measured as well in order to study re-absorption and concentration quenching processes. In addition, an enhanced positive effect of air annealing on radioluminescence intensity and light yield is put in evidence. Moreover, the role of the charge transfer absorption of Ce⁴⁺ is investigated. Thermoluminescence measurements are performed to investigate the influence of both air annealing and Ce concentration on defects acting as traps. Finally, the correlations among steady state scintillation efficiency, light yield, thermoluminescence and Ce³⁺ concentration are found and discussed.     

Preparation,crystal structure and luminescence properties of red-emitting Lu3Al5O12: Mn4+ ceramic phosphor

A series of red-emitting Mn⁴⁺ doped Lu₃Al₅O₁₂ (LuAG) ceramic phosphors were successfully prepared by a simple solid-state reaction method in a high-temperature muffle. MgO was co-doped as sintering aids and Mg²⁺ ions helped to realize the charge balance. The relations between the luminescence properties, crystal structures and the microstructures were well established. Results indicated that MgO promoted the densification of the ceramics as the specimens’ relative densities were up to 99%. Moreover, the substitution of Al³⁺ with Mg²⁺ have changed crystal structures and further affected the luminescent properties. Overall, the obtained ceramic phosphors showed strong red-light emission under excitation of ultraviolet and blue light. By optimizing the Mg²⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ concentration, a quantum efficiency (QE) as high as 47.8% can be achieved under the excitation of 460 nm light, indicating that the LuAG: Mn⁴⁺ ceramic phosphors are promising candidates for WLEDs applications.     

Fabrication and Scintillation Performance of Nonstoichiometric LuAG:Ce Ceramics

Nonstoichiometric LuAG:Ce Ceramics ([Lu_(1–x)Ce_x]₃Al₅O₁₂, x = 0.005) with different excess of Lu³⁺ were designed on the basis of Lu₂O₃‐Al₂O₃ phase diagram and fabricated by a solid‐state reaction method. Without using any traditional sintering aids, pure phase and good optical performance were obtained in such a Lu‐rich LuAG:Ce ceramics. In addition, scintillation efficiency and light yield of 1% excess of Lu³⁺ ceramic sample were found 16 times and 1.82 times higher than that of commercial Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ (BGO) single crystals, respectively. Such values are comparable or even better than those in most of LuAG:Ce single crystals. However, antisite defects were also induced by excess of Lu doping, whose luminescence was found at 350–410 nm in Lu‐rich LuAG:Ce ceramics. The relationship of excess content of Lu and the microstructure, optical quality, and scintillation performance were clarified and discussed. Furthermore, by utilizing X‐ray absorption near edge spectroscopy technique, the charge state stability of cerium in Lu‐rich LuAG:Ce ceramics was examined. It appears that the excess of isovalence Lu³⁺ doping has a negligible effect on the cerium valence instability and creation of stable Ce⁴⁺ center.     

Influence of calcium doping concentration on the performance of Ce,Ca:LuAG scintillation ceramics

Ce,Ca:LuAG scintillation ceramics with different Ca²⁺ co-doping concentrations were prepared by the solid-state reaction method. The concentration of Ce³⁺ was fixed at 0.3 at% and the concentration of Ca²⁺ ranged from 0 to 1.2 at%. We systematically studied how the Ca²⁺ concentration affects the optical quality of Ce,Ca:LuAG ceramics by influencing the microstructure in the vacuum sintering and HIP post-treatment. Good optical transmittance could be obtained with Ca²⁺ concentrations between 0.05 and 0.8 at%, which reached 76.0–81.9 % at 520 nm. The PL and scintillation decay times decrease with increasing Ca²⁺ concentration up to 0.6 at% with no clear trend above this value. The light yield (LY) values at different shaping times decrease with increasing Ca²⁺ concentration but the fast scintillation component (LY_0.5 μs/ LY_3.0 μs) increases significantly from 79 % to 97 %. The co-doping of Ca²⁺ also reduces the afterglow level by more than one order of magnitude.