Crystal growth and scintillation characterizations of Tl2LiYCl6: Ce3+

- Scintillation characterization of Tl2LiYCl6: Ce3+ were presented.
- Tl2LiYCl6: Ce3+ were grown by two zone vertical Bridgman technique.
- It has high Zeff and could be a potential candidate for medical imaging technique.
- Energy resolution of 7.2% and light yield of 23,800±2400 ph/MeV were obtained.
- Three decay time components were observed under γ-ray excitation.

Single crystals of Tl2LiYCl6 with different mole% of Ce-concentration (0.5 and 5 mol%) were presented. This material belongs to Chloro-elpasolite crystal family and was grown by two zone vertical Bridgman technique. X-ray diffraction pattern of the Tl2LiYCl6 single crystal was measured. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed tetragonal crystal structure. The melting point of the sample was measured by DSC. Typical Ce3+ ion emission spectra were observed when samples were excited by an X-ray source at room temperature. The observed emission spectra were located between 350 nm and 530 nm wavelength range and peaking around 430 nm. Pulse height spectra of the samples under 662 keV γ-rays excitation shows improvement in energy resolution with the increase of Ce-concentration in the host lattice. The energy resolutions were obtained to be 10.6% and 7.2% (FWHM) for 0.5% and 5% Ce3+ concentration, respectively. Under γ-ray excitation, a maximum light yield of 23,800±2400 ph/MeV was observed for 5% Ce-concentration. Studied samples of Tl2LiYCl6: Ce3+ showed three exponential decay time components under γ-ray excitation. From the measured scintillation properties, we consider this material is a promising scintillator for radiation detection.