Luminescent salt

In this contribution, we report on the f-f and d-f luminescence of Ce3+, Pr3+ and Nd3+ in NaCl. The samples were prepared by rapid quenching of a NaCl-melt doped with lanthanides. It is shown that both f-f and d-f emission from lanthanide ions can be observed. Excitation and emission spectra are discussed. In addition to being interesting from a fundamental point of view, it will be argued how the simple alkali halides doped with trivalent lanthanides may be promising as hosts for new scintillator materials.