Photoluminescence and X-ray luminescence of Pb0.30Cd0.70I2 solid solutions. Comparative study

The nature and relative contributions (RCs) of various radiative recombination processes to the photoluminescence (PL) spectra for bulk nanostructured Pb0.30Cd0.70I2 solid solutions have been established at different temperatures. The analysis indicates that the PL is caused by free, bound and self-trapped excitons as well as by donor-acceptor pairs emission with the participation of shallow and deep acceptor centers. It was shown that X-ray luminescence (XRL) spectra are also determined by these recombination processes. However, their RC and the temperature evolution are considerably different. Besides, XRL spectra contain an intense long-wavelength band associated with the emission of many LO-phonons. It was shown that the deep luminescence surface states, associated with the self-trapped excitons and deep intrinsic defects, mainly determine the intensity of XRL spectra both at 80 K and room temperature. The results obtained open the way to the optimization of the scintillator properties of the investigated materials.