Scintillation properties of Ce3+-doped YCl3 and YBr3

The dependence of the scintillation properties of Ce3+-doped YCl3 and YBr3 on activator concentration (0.5, 1 and 2 mol%) has been studied. The radioluminescence spectra of both materials contain asymmetric bands with maxima located at 3.13 eV (383 nm) for YCl3:Ce3+ and 2.84 eV (422 nm) for YBr3:Ce3+. The scintillation pulse decay curves for both materials are described by two components with decay constants of 37 and 640 ns for YCl3:Ce3+ and 36 and 450 ns for YBr3:Ce3+, the fractions of the faster component being 86 and 79 per cent, respectively. The dependences of the light yield of the studied materials on Ce3+ concentration pass through a maximum near 1 mol% of the activator, and the maximum light yields (relative to NaI:Tl) are 8700 photons per MeV for YCl3:Ce3+ and 20,600 photons per MeV for YBr3:Ce3+.

► Maximal light yield value of YCl3:Ce and YBr3:Ce is 8700 and 20,600 photons per MeV.
► Scintillation pulse decay of YCl3:Ce is described by two components – 37 and 640 ns.
► Scintillation pulse decay of YBr3:Ce is described by two components – 36 and 450 ns.
► For YCl3:Ce and YBr3:Ce fractions of faster component are 86 and 79%, respectively.