Investigation of CeBr3−xIx scintillators

Matthew Loyd; Luis Stand; Daniel Rutstrom; Yuntao Wu; Jarek Glodo; Kanai Shah; Merry Koschan; Charles L. Melcher; Mariya Zhuravleva

doi:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2019.125365

Investigation of CeBr_3−xI_x scintillators

Matthew Loyd, Luis Stand, Daniel Rutstrom, Yuntao Wu, Jarek Glodo, Kanai Shah, Merry Koschan, Charles L. Melcher, Mariya Zhuravleva

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

CeBr₃ is an intrinsic scintillator that has promising performance capabilities such as 60,000 ph/MeV and ~4% energy resolution at 662 keV. It has been shown that halide mixing can improve the light yield of single halide scintillators. In this work we attempted to improve on CeBr₃ by creating a mixed halide composition CeBr_3−xI_x. Analysis of melt-freeze samples revealed that the light yield of CeI₃ rapidly increases as bromine is substituted. Thirteen mm diameter crystals were grown using the vertical Bridgman technique, with x values between 0.03 and 1. The CeBr_2.5I_0.5 crystal segregated into two sections, colorless and green, while the CeBr₂I crystal was entirely green. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to identify the two phases. Decay time increased as iodine concentration increased. All colorless phase crystals reached <4.5% energy resolution at 662 keV and >65,000 ph/MeV, with the CeBr_2.94I_0.06 crystal achieving 3.9% energy resolution at 662 keV. The green phase crystals both reached light yields of 78,000 ph/MeV, the highest ever recorded for a CeI₃ phase crystal.

Original language	English
Article number	125365
Journal	Journal of Crystal Growth
Volume	531
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2019.125365
State	Published - Feb 1 2020
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work has been supported by the US Department of Homeland Security, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office , under competitively awarded contract #2012-DN-077-ARI067-05 . The project or effort depicted was sponsored by the Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction under grant HDTRA1-19-P-0006. This support does not constitute an expressed or implied endorsement on the part of the Government. The X-ray diffraction experiments were performed at the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM) Diffraction Facility, located at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The authors would like to thank the Center for Materials Processing at the University of Tennessee for additional support. This work has been supported by the US Department of Homeland Security, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, under competitively awarded contract #2012-DN-077-ARI067-05. The project or effort depicted was sponsored by the Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction under grant HDTRA1-19-P-0006. This support does not constitute an expressed or implied endorsement on the part of the Government. The X-ray diffraction experiments were performed at the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM) Diffraction Facility, located at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The authors would like to thank the Center for Materials Processing at the University of Tennessee for additional support.

Funders	Funder number
Defense Threat Reduction	HDTRA1-19-P-0006
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
University of Tennessee
Domestic Nuclear Detection Office	2012-DN-077-ARI067-05

Keywords

A1. X-ray diffraction
B1. Halides
B2 Scintillator materials
B2. Bridgman technique

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2019.125365

Cite this

@article{8f39a5f0242d48d183f1d8971147f484,

title = "Investigation of CeBr3−xIx scintillators",

abstract = "CeBr3 is an intrinsic scintillator that has promising performance capabilities such as 60,000 ph/MeV and ~4% energy resolution at 662 keV. It has been shown that halide mixing can improve the light yield of single halide scintillators. In this work we attempted to improve on CeBr3 by creating a mixed halide composition CeBr3−xIx. Analysis of melt-freeze samples revealed that the light yield of CeI3 rapidly increases as bromine is substituted. Thirteen mm diameter crystals were grown using the vertical Bridgman technique, with x values between 0.03 and 1. The CeBr2.5I0.5 crystal segregated into two sections, colorless and green, while the CeBr2I crystal was entirely green. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to identify the two phases. Decay time increased as iodine concentration increased. All colorless phase crystals reached <4.5% energy resolution at 662 keV and >65,000 ph/MeV, with the CeBr2.94I0.06 crystal achieving 3.9% energy resolution at 662 keV. The green phase crystals both reached light yields of 78,000 ph/MeV, the highest ever recorded for a CeI3 phase crystal.",

keywords = "A1. X-ray diffraction, B1. Halides, B2 Scintillator materials, B2. Bridgman technique",

author = "Matthew Loyd and Luis Stand and Daniel Rutstrom and Yuntao Wu and Jarek Glodo and Kanai Shah and Merry Koschan and Melcher, {Charles L.} and Mariya Zhuravleva",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Elsevier B.V.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2019.125365",

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T1 - Investigation of CeBr3−xIx scintillators

AU - Loyd, Matthew

AU - Stand, Luis

AU - Rutstrom, Daniel

AU - Wu, Yuntao

AU - Glodo, Jarek

AU - Shah, Kanai

AU - Koschan, Merry

AU - Melcher, Charles L.

AU - Zhuravleva, Mariya

PY - 2020/2/1

Y1 - 2020/2/1

N2 - CeBr3 is an intrinsic scintillator that has promising performance capabilities such as 60,000 ph/MeV and ~4% energy resolution at 662 keV. It has been shown that halide mixing can improve the light yield of single halide scintillators. In this work we attempted to improve on CeBr3 by creating a mixed halide composition CeBr3−xIx. Analysis of melt-freeze samples revealed that the light yield of CeI3 rapidly increases as bromine is substituted. Thirteen mm diameter crystals were grown using the vertical Bridgman technique, with x values between 0.03 and 1. The CeBr2.5I0.5 crystal segregated into two sections, colorless and green, while the CeBr2I crystal was entirely green. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to identify the two phases. Decay time increased as iodine concentration increased. All colorless phase crystals reached <4.5% energy resolution at 662 keV and >65,000 ph/MeV, with the CeBr2.94I0.06 crystal achieving 3.9% energy resolution at 662 keV. The green phase crystals both reached light yields of 78,000 ph/MeV, the highest ever recorded for a CeI3 phase crystal.

AB - CeBr3 is an intrinsic scintillator that has promising performance capabilities such as 60,000 ph/MeV and ~4% energy resolution at 662 keV. It has been shown that halide mixing can improve the light yield of single halide scintillators. In this work we attempted to improve on CeBr3 by creating a mixed halide composition CeBr3−xIx. Analysis of melt-freeze samples revealed that the light yield of CeI3 rapidly increases as bromine is substituted. Thirteen mm diameter crystals were grown using the vertical Bridgman technique, with x values between 0.03 and 1. The CeBr2.5I0.5 crystal segregated into two sections, colorless and green, while the CeBr2I crystal was entirely green. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to identify the two phases. Decay time increased as iodine concentration increased. All colorless phase crystals reached <4.5% energy resolution at 662 keV and >65,000 ph/MeV, with the CeBr2.94I0.06 crystal achieving 3.9% energy resolution at 662 keV. The green phase crystals both reached light yields of 78,000 ph/MeV, the highest ever recorded for a CeI3 phase crystal.

KW - A1. X-ray diffraction

KW - B1. Halides

KW - B2 Scintillator materials

KW - B2. Bridgman technique

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