Research and development of new scintillation materials in the form of single crystals, ceramics, thin films or microcrystalline powders

The main part of our group's activity is dedicated to bulk single crystal and ceramic scintillators, as well as scintillators in the form of thin layers or microcrystalline powders, which can find usage in various application fields in science, industry or medicine. It is mainly about the complete characterization of scintillation and optical properties, measurement of thermal stability of emission features and explanation of observed phenomena using phenomenological models. The materials include halides (SrI₂ doped with Eu²⁺ ions, undoped Cs₂HfCl₆, neutron scintillator based on Li₂MnCl₄), sulfides (KLuS₂:Pr, Lu₂S₃:Pr in single crystal form), oxide materials such as multicomponent garnets and perovskites doped with Ce³⁺ or Pr³⁺ ions, silicates doped with Ce³⁺ ions, or materials based on multicomponent zirconates and hafnates, and many others.

Description

Photographs of LuAG-based ceramics doped with Ce3+ (0.2 % atomic percent) and Mg2+ (0.2 % atomic percent) ions annealed in air at various temperatures. The samples were polished and their dimensions were 14.4 mm in diameter and 1 mm in thickness; (a) without annealing, (b) 1000 °C, (c) 1150 °C, (d) 1300 °C, (e) 1450 °C.