Luminescence and scintillation of Ce3+-doped high silica glass

Ce3+-doped high silica glass was prepared by impregnation of Ce ions into a porous silica glass followed by high temperature sintering in a CO reducing atmosphere. The characteristic emission of Ce3+ 5d → 4f transition peaking around 375 nm is observed in its luminescence spectra under UV and X-ray excitation. Its photoluminescence decay is governed by several tens of nanoseconds decay time. Its integral scintillation efficiency is comparable to that of a Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) crystal under X-ray excitation. Scintillation light yield under gamma and alpha excitation was measured and compared with that of BGO.

► Luminescence and scintillation of Ce3+-doped high silica glass are presented. ► An intense photoluminescence is observed with a fast decay time of about 50 ns. ► It shows high integral scintillation efficiency of about 105% of that of a BGO crystal. ► It has light yield of 1410 and 320 photons/MeV under γ-and α-excitation, respectively.