Single crystal growth, optical absorption and luminescence properties under VUV-UV synchrotron excitation of type III Ce3+:KGd(PO3)4, a promising scintillator material.

Scintillator materials have gained great interest for many applications, among which the medical applications stand out. Nowadays, the research is focused on finding new scintillator materials with properties that suit the needs of each application. In particular, for medical diagnosis a fast and intense response under high-energy radiation excitation is of great importance. Here, type III Ce3+-doped KGd(PO3)4 single crystals with high crystalline quality are grown and optically characterized as a new promising scintillator material. The 4f → 5d electronic transitions of Ce3+ are identified by optical absorption. The optical absorption cross section of Ce3+ for the electronic transition from the 2F5/2 to the 5d1 level is 370 × 10-20 cm2. The luminescence of KGd0.996Ce0.004(PO3)4 crystal by exciting the 5d levels of Ce3+ with VUV-UV synchrotron radiation shows down-shifting properties with strong emissions at 322 and 342 nm from the 5d1 to 2F5/2 and 2F7/2 levels of Ce3+ with a short decay time of ~16 ns, which is very suitable for scintillator applications. Moreover, these intense emissions are also observed when Gd3+ is excited since an energy transfer from Gd3+ to Ce3+ exists.