BiI3 single crystal for room-temperature gamma ray detectors

BiI3 single crystals were grown by the physical vapor transport method. The repeated sublimation of the starting material reduced impurities in the BiI3 single crystal to sub-ppm levels. The detector was fabricated by depositing Au electrodes on both surfaces of the 100-μm-thick BiI3 single crystal platelet. The resistivity of the BiI3 single crystal was increased by post-annealing in an iodine atmosphere (ρ=1.6×1011 Ω cm). Pulse height spectroscopy measurements showed clear peaks in the energy spectrum of alpha particles or gamma rays. It was estimated that the mobility-lifetime product was μeτe=3.4-8.5×10−6 cm2/V and the electron-hole pair creation energy was 5.8 eV. Our results show that BiI3 single crystals are promising candidates for detectors used in radiographic imaging or gamma ray spectroscopy.