Radioluminescence as a function of temperature and low temperature thermoluminescence of BaY2F8:Ce and BaY2F8:Nd crystals

•Scintillation process in BYF:Ce and BYF:Nd is revisited.•Energy transfer was studied via radioluminescence as a function of temperature.•Thermoluminescence was investigated by the Tm–Tstop method.

Radioluminescence spectra at temperatures ranging from 10 to 320 K and low temperature thermoluminescence glow curves of BaY2F8:Ce and BaY2F8:Nd scintillator crystals have been investigated. In both materials the intensities of the excitonic and the activator ion’s emission at X-ray excitation vary with temperature, anticorrelating with each other, which provides valuable information on the host-to-ion energy transfer. Detailed thermoluminescence studies, in turn, prove the existence of charge traps, which introduce quasi-continuous distributions of energy levels into the bandgap.