Elsevier

Journal of Luminescence

Volume 154, October 2014, Pages 525-530
Journal of Luminescence

Luminescent and scintillation properties of Bi3+ doped Y2SiO5 and Lu2SiO5 single crystalline films

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2014.05.030Get rights and content

Highlights

  • YSO:Bi and LSO:Bi films have been grown by liquid phase epitaxy.

  • Bi3+ absorption and luminescence depends on Bi concentration.

  • Scintillation properties of YSO:Bi and LSO:Bi films have been studied.

Abstract

In this paper we report our follow-up research on the Bi3+ luminescence in orthosilicate compounds, focusing on absorption, luminescent and scintillation properties of YSO:Bi and LSO:Bi SCFs with the Bi concentration ranging from 0.05 to 0.18 at%. For purpose of this research, single crystalline films (SCF) of Y2SiO5:Bi and Lu2SiO5:Bi have been grown by the LPE method onto YSO and LSO substrates from the melt-solution based on Bi2O3 flux.

Introduction

Bi3+ doped complex oxides attract nowadays attention as promising scintillation materials emitting in the UV and visible ranges [1]. For this reason the optical and luminescent properties of Bi3+ ions have been studied in various oxide hosts [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]. In particular, the luminescence of powder samples of the Bi-doped Y3Ga5O12 (YGG) and Gd3Ga5O12 (GGG) garnets were studied in works [4], [5] and also in more detail, in Bi-doped YGG, GGG and Lu3Ga5O12 (LuGG) single crystals [6], [7]. The Bi3+ luminescence in Y3Al5O12 (YAG) and Lu3Al5O12 (LuAG) garnet powder samples was also analyzed including its Bi-concentration dependence [8]. However, strong evaporation of Bi2O3 oxide from the melt at high temperature disables reaching the reasonable doping concentration of Bi3+ in bulk crystals of the mentioned oxides using the classical Czochralski or Bridgman methods.

To overcome the problem of low doping concentration in single crystals we study the luminescence of the Bi3+ ions in single crystalline films (SCFs) of various structural types of oxides, grown by the liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) from the Bi-based fluxes [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]. The LPE growth method enables to change the concentration of Bi3+ dopant in a wide range of about 0.01–2.5 at%, what is quite sufficient for both the basic research and application purposes. In our previous works, we have studied in detail the luminescence of Bi3+ ions in YAG:Bi and LuAG:Bi SCFs in the wide concentration range of bismuth dopant [9], [10], [11], [12], [13] as well as the luminescence of Bi–Ce and Bi–Pr doped YAG and LuAG SCFs [14], [15]. The Bi3+ luminescence in SCF of Y2SiO5 and Lu2SiO5 orthosilicates at a fixed Bi concentration was also investigated in the works [16], [17].

In this paper, we continue our research of the Bi3+ luminescence in orthosilicate compounds and report the absorption, luminescent and scintillation properties of YSO and LSO:Bi SCFs having the Bi concentration in the 0.11–1.87 at% and 1.46–2.23 at%, ranges, respectively. For this purpose, the single crystalline films (SCF) of Y2SiO5:Bi and Lu2SiO5:Bi SCFs with different Bi3+ ions content were grown by the LPE method onto YSO substrates from the melt-solution based on Bi2O3 flux.

Section snippets

Growth of Y2SiO5:Bi and Lu2SiO5:Bi SCFs

Two sets of YSO:Bi SCF (a and b series) and one set of LSO:Bi SCF (c series) with dimensions of 0.5×0.5 cm2 and thickness between 1.0 and 64 µm (see Table 1) were grown at LOM, Lviv University using the LPE method from the super-cooled melt-solution based on Bi2O3 flux onto the undoped YSO substrates with (111) orientation. For the growth of these SCF we used the equal-molar (Y2O3(Lu2O3)/SiO2) ratio of the crystal-forming component in melt-solution. The concentration of crystal-forming components

Experimental techniques

The absorption spectra of the SCF samples under study were measured using an UV/VIS/NIR absorption spectrophotometer Shimadzu UV-3100 PC in a wavelength range of 190–600 nm at 300 K. The cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra were measured at 300 K with a set-up based on a SF-4A monochromator and photomultiplier (PMT) FEU-100 under the pulse e-beam excitation (10 kV, 5 µA). Emission spectra were corrected for the spectral dependence of the detection part.

The photoluminescence (PL) spectra, excitation

Absorption spectra

The absorption spectra of LSO:Bi and YSO:Bi SCFs with different Bi content are presented in Fig. 2. The strong absorption below 300 nm in the studied SCF samples is caused by the intrinsic transitions of Bi3+ ions, namely by the 1S03P1 and 1S01P1 transitions (labeled later as A and C bands, respectively) [6], [7]. The continuous absorption of SCF in the range above 330 nm is mainly caused by the scattering of light in the film volume due to some deviations of their uniformity especially in the

Conclusions

The single crystalline films (SCF) of Y2SiO5:Bi and Lu2SiO5:Bi orthosilicates were grown by the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) method onto YSO substrates from the melt-solution based on Bi2O3 flux. The content of Bi ions in SCF under study was changed in the wide (0.11–2.23 at%) concentration range.

For characterization of Bi3+ doped LSO and YSO SCFs, the absorption, cathodoluminescence, photoluminescence and light yield (LY) measurements under e-beam and α-particles (Am241 source, E=5.4857 MeV)

Acknowledgment

The work was performed in the framework of NATO Project no CBP.NUKR. CLG984305, Polish National Science Center Project no. 2012/07/B/ST5/02376 and Czech Science Foundation project P204/12-0805 and further partly supported by Ministry Education and Science of Ukraine (Project no. SF 126 F).

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