The Synthesis and Structures of Elpasolite Halide Scintillators

Low-cost, high-performance gamma-ray spectrometers are urgently needed for nonproliferation and homeland security applications. Available scintillation materials fall short of the requirements for energy resolution and sensitivity at room temperature. The emerging lanthanide halide based materials, while having the desired luminosity and proportionality, have proven difficult to produce in the large sizes and low cost required due to highly anisotropic properties caused by the non-cubic crystal structure. New cubic materials, such as the recently discovered elpasolite family (A2BLnX6; Ln-lanthanide and X-halogen), hold promise for scintillator materials due to their high light output, proportionality, and toughness. The isotropic nature of the cubic elpasolites leads to minimal thermomechanical stresses during single-crystal solidification, and eliminates the problematic light scattering at the grain boundaries. Therefore, it may be possible to produce these materials in large sizes as either single crystals or transparent ceramics with high production yield and reduced costs. In this study, we investigated the “cubic” elpasolite halide synthesis and studied the structural variations of four different compounds, including Cs2NaLaBr6, Cs2LiLaBr6, Cs2NaLaI6, and Cs2LiLaI6. Attempts to produce a large-area detector by a hot forging technique were explored.