Optical, scintillation and thermoluminescent properties of Eu2O3-doped K2O–La2O3–Ga2O3 glasses

Abstract: Glasses are promising functional materials as phosphors with an aim to use in radiation measurements because of easy shaping, low fabrication cost and large volume fabrication possibility. In this study, Eu3+-activated gallate glasses having glass compositions of 20K2O–11La2O3–(69−x)Ga2O3–xEu2O3 (x = 0.1–1.0) were synthesized, and their photoluminescence, scintillation and thermoluminescent characteristics were investigated. Clear luminescence peaks at around 574, 591, 614, 653 nm ascribed to the electronic 4f-4f transitions of Eu3+ appeared when the Eu2O3-doped gallate glasses were irradiated by visible light and high energy X-ray. The photoluminescence and scintillation intensities of the 0.5% Eu2O3-doped gallate glass were found to be the highest. Furthermore, a thermoluminescent glow peak appeared at around 90 °C in the glow curve. The 0.1% Eu2O3-doped gallate glass showed the highest glow peak intensity unlike photoluminescence and X-ray induced scintillation spectra, suggesting that the Eu2O3-doped gallate glasses showed a complimentary relationship between scintillation and thermoluminescent intensities.