Crystal growth and scintillation characteristics of the Nd3+ doped LaF3 single crystal

Two-inch diameter Nd3+ doped LaF3 single crystals were successfully grown by the Czochralski technique. No remarkable absorption due to unfavorable impurities or color centers was observed from optical absorption measurements in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral region. The high crystallinity and homogeneous Nd3+ distribution were found from X-ray rocking curve and chemical composition analysis, respectively. X-ray excited luminescence spectrum was measured and the significant 4f25d-4f 3 luminescence at 173 nm was observed in the grown crystal. The pulse height spectrum and scintillation decay curves were taken upon γ-ray irradiation. As a result, the grown crystals demonstrated sufficient response to the γ-ray, the light yield of 140 ± 30 photons/MeV, and fast scintillation decay of 7.6 ns. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.