Spectroscopic properties of Pr3+-doped 20Al(PO3)3-80LiF glasses as potential scintillators for neutron detection

We investigate the spectroscopic properties of praseodymium (Pr3+)-doped APLF glasses [20Al(PO3)3−80LiF+xPrF3, x=0.5 to3.0mol%] to realize their potential application as scintillators for neutron detection. From the ultraviolet (UV) to the near infrared (NIR) region, the Pr3+-doped glasses exhibit absorption and emission peaks which correspond to the different interconfigurational 4f5d and intraconfigurational 4f transitions of Pr3+ ions usually located within different environments of the glass matrix. The spectroscopy results also indicate that Pr3+ ions in APLF have a 4f5d excited state configuration which overlaps with the 1S0 level of the 4f ground state configuration. Under 217 nm excitation, the 267 nm emissions of the Pr3+-doped APLF glasses which correspond to the 4f5d → 3H6 transition have fast lifetimes ranging from 16.0 to 19.7ns. In contrast with emission intensities, the emission lifetimes are found to depend only on the doping concentration and not on the sample temperature. Our results suggest that Pr3+-doped APLF glasses can be used as neutron scintillators with robustness in a wide temperature range and with fast and intense emissions at low operating temperatures.