Growth and Scintillation Properties of Ce:Li$lt;inf$gt;6$lt;/inf$gt;Lu($lt;sup$gt;10$lt;/sup$gt;BO$lt;inf$gt;3$lt;/inf$gt;)$lt;inf$gt;3$lt;/inf$gt; Crystal

Abstract

To improve the neutron detection efficiency, Ce:Li 6 Lu(10 BO 3) 3 crystal was grown by Czochralski method from the raw materials enriched with 10 B isotopes. The X-ray excited luminescence of Ce:Li 6 Lu(10 BO 3) 3 crystal presents an emission band from 360 nm to 480 nm corresponding to 5d-4f transitions of Ce 3+ ions. The scintillation efficiency of Ce:Li 6 Lu (10 BO 3) 3 crystal was 3.9 times as large as that of BGO crystal, and the photoluminescence decay time excited by 350 nm and scintillation decay time excited by 137 Cs γ-ray source were 21.0 ns and 31.7 ns, respectively. The relative light output of Ce:Li 6 Lu(10 BO 3) 3 crystal excited with 662 keV γ-ray from 137 Cs was 20% that of CsI(Tl) crystal and the energy resolution was measured to be 9.7%. In the neutron energy spectrum excited by moderated 252 Cf neutron source, the obvious full energy peak of neutron was observed and the energy resolution was 33%. With the relatively high scintillation efficiency, fast decay time and good neutron detection efficiency, Ce:Li 6 Lu(10 BO 3) 3 crystal is a promising fast scintillator for neutron detection applications.