Growth and luminescence characteristics of cerium-doped yttrium pyrosilicate single crystal

Yttrium pyrosilicate (Y2Si2O7, YPS) is an incongruent compound and has five (or possibly six) different structural forms from 1535 to 1225 °C. It should be very difficult to grow YPS single crystal through traditional pulling method. In this paper, cerium doped yttrium pyrosilicate (Y2Si2O7:Ce) single crystals were successfully grown by Floating Zone (Fz) method through composition adjustment and relative rapid growth speed and cooling rate. The crystal structure was confirmed to be orthorhombic with space group Pna21 and density of 4.04 g/cm3. Typical Ce3+ luminescence was observed by photoluminescence spectrum measurement. Some optical properties of YPS:Ce, such as transmittance and decay time, were measured and compared with that of Lu2Si2O7:Ce crystal. Under 342 nm excitation and 360 nm emission, the decay time of YPS:Ce crystal was 30 ns. This is the fastest value in the cerium doped silicate scintillators up to the present. Its potential application prospect as scintillation material will be also evaluated in this paper.