Optical and structural characterization of cerium doped LYSO sol–gel polycrystal films: potential application as scintillator panel for X-ray imaging

Abstract

The optical and structural properties of sol-gel prepared polycrystalline films of Cerium doped Lutetium and Yttrium oxyorthosilicates (Ce:LYSO) are investigated by means of optical spectroscopy, XRD diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The sol-gel samples are compared to commercially available Ce-doped LYSO single crystals, and a detailed study of the emission properties from the different cerium sites is performed. The main result is that the polycrystalline films do show very good radioluminescence properties for possible applications as X-ray scintillating panels. The structural characterization indicates that the sol-gel polycrystals have similar phase composition to commercial monocrystals; concerning the excitation and emission properties, the same radiative recombination channels are observed in the polycrystals and commercial monocrystals with a slightly faster decay time in the first case. In addition, low temperature measurements (8 K) indicate the presence of a nonradiative cross-relaxation mechanism among cerium ions in the sol-gel grown samples in the two possible crystallographic sites. The results indicate the possibility to develop sol-gel synthesized polycrystalline thin films as scintillating materials in the X-ray energy range.

Strong Near‐Infrared Photoluminescence Emission of (003)‐Oriented MgTiO3 Thin Films

“…To date, single crystal or epitaxial thin films with a wide band gap have played an important role in many optoelectronic devices. However, in many cases, bulk or epitaxial layers are replaced by disordered films, especially when cost is one of the most important factors due to their relatively inexpensive fabrication process . Ilmenite‐MgTiO 3 ceramic has a space group R and a rhombohedral crystal system at room temperature, and feature a wide range of applications in microwave integrated circuits and optoelectronic applications .…”

“…However, in many cases, bulk or epitaxial layers are replaced by disordered films, especially when cost is one of the most important factors due to their relatively inexpensive fabrication process. 1,2 Ilmenite-MgTiO 3 ceramic has a space group R 3 and a rhombohedral crystal system at room temperature, 3,4 and feature a wide range of applications in microwave integrated circuits 5,6 and optoelectronic applications. 4,7 However, very few studies have investigated the luminescence properties of undoped MgTiO 3 ceramics.…”

Assessment of Crystalline Materials for Solid State Lighting Applications: Beyond the Rare Earth Elements

“…In this view, relative fast decay time (ns time range) is preferred. Concerning Ce:YAG, due to the allowed nature of the emission transition in Ce 3+ , the decay constant remains well below 100 ns in YAG [40], and even faster in different matrices [40][41][42][43].…”

Selective reading of stored information in RE doped aluminium perovskites

“…Recently great efforts have been dedicated to elucidate the trapping and de‐trapping mechanism of the excited electrical charges in the interaction between high energy radiation and the solid state matrix during the scintillation process . It was suggested that if the trapping effects play a detrimental role in lowering the scintillator efficiency, from a different point of view they can be regarded as potentially useful in storing information via optical writing with X‐ray or deep UV radiation.…”