Scintillation properties of Zr co-doped Ce:(Gd, La)2Si2O7 grown by the Czochralski process

•Czochralski growth of Ce:(Gd,La)2Si2O7 single crystals.•Co-doping effect of a stable tetravalent ion in Ce:(Gd,La)2Si2O7 system.•Photon nonproportional response of Zr co-doped Ce:(Gd,La)2Si2O7.

(Gd0.75,Ce0.015,La0.235)2Si2O7 (Ce:La-GPS) single crystals co-doped with 0, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 ppm Zr were grown by the Czochralski process, and their scintillation properties were investigated. We investigated the co-doping effect of a stable tetravalent ion in Ce:La-GPS for the first time. The scintillation decay times in the faster component were shortened with increasing the Zr concentration. While the non-co-doped sample showed ∼63 ns day time, the Zr 100, 200, 500 and 1000 ppm co-doped samples showed ∼61, ∼59, ∼57, ∼54 ns, respectively. Additionally, light output, photon nonproportional response (PNR) and other optical properties were investigated.