Photo- and radio-excited luminescence properties of Eu-doped La2O3–Al2O3 based eutectics

• 0.5% Eu-doped 30LaAlO3–70Al2O3 eutectic crystal was grown by μ-PD technique.
• The crystal showed intense Eu2+ 5d-4f emission at 450 nm under excited at 320 nm.
• The fluorescence quantum efficiency was calculated to be about 60%.
• The scintillation light yield was about 4% compared with that of BGO scintillator.

Eutectic crystal of 0.5% Eu-doped 30LaAlO3–70Al2O3 (vol %) was prepared by micro-pulling down (μ-PD) technique under nitrogen atmosphere. Being excited at a wavelength of 320 nm, the crystal exhibited intense emission band with a maximum at 450 nm which is corresponding to 4f65d-4f7(8S7/2) transitions of Eu2+. The decay time and fluorescence quantum efficiency (QE) were determined to be about 475 ns and 60%, respectively. When alpha-ray excited the crystal, both Eu2+ 4f65d-4f7(8S7/2) and Eu3+ 4f6-4f6 (5D0-7F1,2) emission peaks were observed at 435 nm and 600 nm. By the pulse height spectra, the relative scintillation light yield of the crystal was about 4% compared with that of BGO commercial scintillator.