Luminescent properties and energy transfer of Ce3+-activated Li2O–B2O3–Gd2O3 scintillating glasses under VUV–UV and X-ray excitation

Motivated by potential application for neutron detection, novel Ce3+-activated Li2O–B2O3–Gd2O3 scintillating glasses containing neutron-capture elements were synthesized by melt-quenching method. The energy transfer from the host glass to Gd3+ and Ce3+ ions, as well as from Gd3+ to Ce3+ ions are confirmed by VUV–UV spectra. The strongest emission intensity of Ce3+ ions with about 29 ns is obtained when the scintillating glass contains a fraction of 0.25 mol% CeF3, whose mean distance is estimated to be about 25.63 Å.