Eu2+ concentration effects in KCa0.8Sr0.2I3:Eu2+: A novel high-performance scintillator

We report here the effect of Eu2+ concentration in KCa0.8Sr0.2I3:Eu2+ single crystal scintillators. KCa0.8Sr0.2I3:Eu2+ single crystals doped with 0.5, 1, 3, 5, and 7 mol% Eu2+ were grown by the Bridgman method. The effects of varying Eu2+concentration and crystal volume on the scintillation properties, including light yield, energy resolution, nonproportionality, scintillation decay time and afterglow level, were systematically investigated. For 5 mm×5 mm×5 mm samples, the best light yield of 86,000±4000 photons/MeV was achieved with a content of 5 mol% Eu2+; its energy resolution of 2.5% at 662 keV was comparable to that of LaBr3:Ce3+ and SrI2:Eu2+. With larger samples of about 2.2 cm3, the best performances achieved were for 3 mol% Eu2+ concentration, i.e. a light yield of 76,000±4000 photons/MeV and an energy resolution of 3% at 662 keV. A direct correlation between nonproportionality and Eu2+ concentration was found. A continuous lengthening of scintillation decay time and x-ray induced afterglow level with increasing Eu2+ concentration was observed. The self-absorption effect was evaluated by using the Stokes shift and the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence decay (PL) of the Eu2+ centers. The sample with the highest dopant concentration had more severe temperature quenching of the Eu2+5d-4f emission than the sample with the lowest dopant concentration, which could be ascribed to the thermally activated concentration quenching.