Promising Ce3+-doped high-gadolinium-based glass scintillator for future multimodal radiation detection

Public summary

* Gd3+ → Ce3+ energy transfer efficiency reaches 85.5% in the glass scintillator.

* EXAFS analysis reveals the local structure of [GdOxFy] polyhedron coordination.

* GFO:Ce glass attains a spatial resolution of 29.8 lp/mm in X-ray imaging.

* GFO:Ce glass delivers a light yield of 2,076 ± 51 ph/MeV with an energy resolution of 22.4 ± 0.5% @ 662 keV.

* An MIP response exceeding 100 p.e. is achieved in a GFO:Ce glass-based detector cell.

Abstract

Energy migration, transfer, and radiative recombination efficiency within glasses orchestrate their distinctive scintillation. Ce3+-doped gadolinium-rich fluoro-oxide (GFO:Ce) glass exhibits significant potential for multimodal radiation detection. Its excellent spatial resolution of 29.8 lp/mm indicates applicability in X-ray imaging. Furthermore, the glass attains a light yield of 2,076 ± 51 ph/MeV with an energy resolution of 22.4 ± 0.5% @ 662 keV excited by γ-rays. Additionally, GFO:Ce glass is capable of detecting thermal and fast neutrons, exhibiting distinct peaks at 80 and 180 keV. Under high-energy particle beams, it demonstrates a minimum ionizing particle response exceeding 100 p.e., benefiting from its substantial energy deposition. The internal [GdOxFy] polyhedra suggest a tendency toward local clustering and promote non-radiative energy to Ce3+ centers (ηET = 85.5%),resulting in a high quantum yield of 80.40% and considerable scintillation performances. These results demonstrate that GFO:Ce glass possesses comprehensivedetection capabilities and deserves further development.