Fast Ce3+-activated borosilicate glass scintillators prepared in air atmosphere

We report a simple synthesis method of a transparent and colorless Ce3+-activated borosilicate glass scintillator by conventional melt-quenching method in air atmosphere. The optical transmittance and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) spectra imply that ceric ions (Ce4+) can be effectively reduced to cerous one (Ce3+) in borosilicate glass scintillator by substituting 40-60 mol% SiC for SiO2. Compared to the x=0 glass scintillator, both the photo- and radioluminescence intensity of the optimized borosilicate glass scintillator (x=15 C) are enhanced by a factor of 6.5 and 7.7, respectively. The integral radioluminescence intensity of the x=15 C borosilicate glass scintillator resulted from the combined reduction effect of both SiC and graphite powder is about that of 14% bismuth germinate (BGO) crystal.