Alkali Rare Earth Double Phosphates: Promising New High Temperature Scintillators

Author(s)

Hunter B. Tisdale, University of South CarolinaFollow
Robin L. Conner
Luiz G. Jacobsohn
Hans Conrad zur Loye, University of South CarolinaFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Alkali rare earth double phosphates were investigated for their X-ray induced scintillation. Double phosphates with stoichiometry A₃Ln(PO₄)₂ (A = K or Rb, Ln = Eu or Tb) were synthesized via a eutectic molten salt flux yielding high quality single crystals. The systematic variation of the alkali and rare earth elements in the structure allowed for insights into the effects of the chemical composition on the scintillation output. The radioluminescence of these compositions under X-ray excitation is reported with a discussion of the variance of their luminosity as a function of both the constituent alkali and lanthanide elements. The relative luminosity of Rb₃Tb(PO₄)₂ surpasses BGO by 30 %. The dependance of the scintillation on temperature is also investigated, including an unusual peak intensity increase for higher temperatures that can reach 1.4x of its value at room temperature for Rb₃Tb(PO₄)₂ at 255 °C, and 2.1x for K₃Tb(PO₄)₂ at 495 °C.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2024.107612

Publication Info

Published in Solid State Sciences, Volume 154, 2024.

Rights

© 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

APA Citation

Conner, & Jacobsohn (2024). Alkali Rare Earth Double Phosphates: Promising New High Temperature Scintillators. Solid State Sciences, 154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2024.107612