We have studied the effect of lead dopant on the optical absorption, photoluminescence, and x-ray luminescence spectra, and the scintillation characteristics of CdI 2 at room temperature. The crystals for the study were grown by the Stockbarger-Bridgman method. Activation of CdI 2 from the melt by the compound PbI 2 leads to the appearance in the absorption spectra in the near-edge region of an activator band at 395-405 nm, which is interpreted as an A band connected with electronic transitions from the 1 S 0 state to the 3 P 1 levels in the Pb 2+ ion. For x-ray excitation, CdI 2 :Pb 2+ crystals with optimal dopant concentration (~1.0 mol%) are characterized by a light yield with maximum in the 570-580 nm region that is an order of magnitude higher than for CdI 2 crystals in the 490-500 nm band. For α excitation, the radioluminescence kinetics for cadmium iodide is characterized by a very short (~0.3 nsec) rise time and fast decay of luminescence, with τ 1 ≈ 4 nsec and τ 2 = 10-76 nsec. Depending on the conditions under which the crystals were obtained, the fast component fraction is 95%-99%. The crystal is characterized by a similar scintillation pulse in the case of excitation by x-ray pulses. The radioluminescence pulse shape for CdI 2 :Pb in the decay stage is predominantly exponential, with luminescence decay time constants τ 1 ≈ 10 nsec and τ 2 = 200-250 nsec. This system is characterized by low afterglow, at the level for the Bi 4 G 3 O 12 scintillator. We have demonstrated the feasibility of using CdI 2 :Pb as a scintillator for detecting α particles.
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