Photoluminescence (PL) and scintillation properties are reported for SrCl2−xBrx:Yb2+ (x = 0, 1.6, 2.0) crystals grown by a self-seeding solidification method. Two emission peaks centered at approximately (380–390) nm and (410–420) nm were observed in PL and scintillation spectra and are attributed to spin-allowed and spin-forbidden Yb2+ 5d–4f transitions, respectively. SrCl0.4Br1.6:Yb2+ showed the highest light yield of 71 000 photons MeV−1 with a scintillation decay time constant of 490 ns. The developed SrCl0.4Br1.6:Yb2+ materials have the potential to replace conventional SrI2:Eu2+ scintillators used in pulse counting mode detectors owing to their high light yields and low deliquescence.
Photoluminescence and scintillation properties are reported for SrCl 2¹x Br x :Yb 2+ (x = 0, 0.3, 1.4, 1.6, and 2.0) crystals grown by a self-seeding solidification method. SrCl 2¹x Br x have been reported to crystallize in some structural types with different local site symmetries depending on the Cl/Br ratio. Taking advantage of this property, we can control the crystal structure and the local Yb 2+ site symmetry of SrCl 2¹x Br x :Yb 2+ by changing the compositions and investigate the behaviors of the spin-allowed and spin-forbidden transitions dependent on the local site symmetry. For photoluminescence and scintillation, both spin-allowed and spin-forbidden Yb 2+ 5d 4f transitions were observed for SrCl 2 :Yb 2+ with local O h symmetry and SrCl 0.4 Br 1.6 :Yb 2+ and SrBr 2 :Yb 2+ with local C 4h symmetry, whereas only spin-forbidden Yb 2+ 5d4f transition was observed for SrCl 1.7 Br 0.3 :Yb 2+ and SrCl 0.6 Br 1.4 :Yb 2+ with local D 2h symmetry. The spin-allowed transitions were observed in crystals with higher local site symmetry. Light yields of SrCl 2¹x Br x :Yb 2+ (x = 0, 0.3, 1.4, 1.6, and 2.0) were (21000 to 71000) photons/MeV. Crystals with higher local site symmetry, which showed the spin-allowed transitions, had relatively high light yields. Among them, SrCl 0.4 Br 1.6 :Yb 2+ showed a light yield of 71000 photons/MeV, which is higher than those of previously reported Yb 2+ -doped scintillators, for example, SrI 2 :Yb 2+ (56000 photons/MeV) and CsBa 2 I 5 :Yb 2+ (54000 photons/MeV).
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