Growth and scintillation properties of (Lu1 − x Tmx)2SiO5 [x = 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1]

Abstract (Lu 1 −  x Tm x ) 2 SiO 5 ( x  = 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1) single crystalline scintillators were grown by the μ-PD method. In transmittance measurement, absorption bands due to Tm 3+ 4f–4f transitions were observed at 260, 292, 356, 463, 680 and 790 nm and they could be ascribed to the transition from the 3 H 6 ground state to its excited states, 1 I 6 , 3 P 6 , 1 D 2 , 1 G 4 , 3 F 3 and 3 H 4 , respectively. Strong emission peak due to 1 D 2  →  3 F 4 transition of Tm 3+ was shown at 453 nm under X-ray irradiation. Photoluminescence decay time constant caused by this transition were evaluated to be 11.9 μs. Tm 1% doped one exhibited the highest light yield of 3530 ± 200 photons/MeV when excited by 137 Cs gamma-ray exposure.