Optical and scintillation properties of Gd2O2S: Pr, Ce, F ceramics fabricated by spark plasma sintering

Gd2O2S: Pr, Ce, F scintillation ceramics were fabricated by the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. Optical absorption, phase evolution, luminescence spectra, and microstructures are investigated. Temperature dependent radio-luminescence under X-ray excitation has been performed in the 77–500 K range on Gd2O2S: Pr, Ce, F ceramics. The intensity of the X-ray emission peaks decreases with increase of the temperature from 250 K to 450 K. The effect of the sintering temperature on the light yield of Gd2O2S: Pr, Ce, F ceramics is also discussed, and the highest light yield reaches to 84% of that of the commercial sample. Some traps are proposed to be the main reason for degradation of the scintillation properties.