Size-induced effect on cathode luminescence spectra of CsI(Na) and CsI(Tl) crystals

We investigated the cathode luminescence characteristics of CsI(Na) and CsI(Tl) crystals by the spectrum and structure properties at room temperature. We fabricated three different sizes of CsI(Na) and CsI(Tl) crystals and measured their luminescence spectra under cathode rays. We found that CsI(Na) cathode luminescence peaks appear at 420 and 305 nm, and CsI(Tl) cathode luminescence peaks are 540 and 410 nm, the grain size affects CsI(Na) luminescence significantly, and the Na-related 420 nm luminescence intensified relatively when the average grain size reaches ∼20 μm, which becomes weak when the grain size is down to nano-scale. But the cathode luminescence spectra of CsI(Tl) crystals with different size have no obvious changes. Our explanations for these phenomena are that the different impurities in the same host material CsI lead to different luminescence mechanisms. These cathode luminescence characteristics indicate the suitability of CsI(Na) and CsI(Tl) crystals to match photomultiplier tube for large area crystal detector development.