Scintillation Properties and Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of a Novel Scintillator Material: Ce $^{3 +}$ -Activated Li

The scintillation properties and time-resolved spectroscopy results for Li₃Lu(PO₄)₂:Ce-a new Ce³⁺-activated crystalline scintillator have been determined. This material contains stoichiometric amounts of Li, and can be synthesized either with the use of ⁶Li-enriched or ⁶Li-depleted isotopes, for achieving thermal neutron sensitivity or x-ray/gamma-ray detection without neutron sensitivity, respectively. The scintillation of Li₃Lu(PO₄)₂:Ce is based on the Ce³⁺-activator UV (336 and 360 nm) emission, and for a 2 wt.% activation level and gamma ray photon excitation, it exhibits a light yield of about 5300 photons/MeV and a decay time constant of 24.7 ns-with no longer component observed in the time range up to 2 ¿s. Host emissions, while present for some specific excitations in the region of the bandgap energy, do not appear to play a significant role in the material´s scintillation that is most probably accomplished by the consecutive capture and recombination of free band holes and electrons on the activator ions.