Czochralski growth and scintillation properties of bismuth germanium silicon oxide (BGSO) single crystals

We present our initial results on the crystal growth and scintillation properties of bismuth germanium silicon oxide Bi₄ (Ge_1-xSi_x)₃ O₁₂ (BGSO) with x = 0.2, 0.3, 0.7, 0.8 single crystals. For the preparation of BGSO samples, various proportions of Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ (BGO) and Bi₄Si₃O₁₂ (BSO) are mixed and grown by Czochralski technique. By employing suitable rotation and pulling rates, good quality crystals of BGSO have been grown from the solution melt. Problems during growth process, such as non-transparency and cracks of these materials have been addressed. Structure analyses of the grown samples are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). X-ray induced emission spectrum shows a broad emission band in the wavelength range from 350 to 700 nm for the grown samples with different values of x. Scintillation properties such as energy resolution, light yield, and decay time are studied.