Luminescence and scintillation properties of Ce3+-doped P2O5-Li2CO3-GdBr3-Al2O3 glasses

A series of glass samples were fabricated with the composition of (65-x)P2O5:20Li2CO3:10GdBr3:5Al2O3:xCeBr3 (where, x = 0.5,1,2,3,4). The powder X-ray diffraction measurements were performed to verify the amorphous structure of the prepared glass samples. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed an interesting phenomenon of oxygen bridging eliminating Br (Bromine) from the initial compounds. The luminescence characteristics of the samples were studied using X-rays and UV–Vis excitations. Characteristics Ce3+ emission was observed at 350 nm including energy transfer from 4f energy state of Gd3+ to 5d energy band of Ce3+. The fast decay component was observed as 37 ns, 42 ns, and 44 ns for the UV, α-particles, and γ-ray excitations, respectively. The intermediate and slow components were observed for α-particles, and γ-rays excitations indicating Gd3+ to Ce3+ energy transfer and 4f-4f transitions of Gd3+ -ions accordingly. The scintillation property was studied with α-particles using a 241Am source. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.