Preparation Of Dense YAG:Ce³⁺/Tb³ Transparent Glass-Ceramics And Their Scintillation Properties

YAG:Ce scintillation crystal has the advantages of non-deliquescent,high temperature resistance,fast decay time?about 60ns?,excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties,and can be widely used in extreme detection environments.Scintillation glass-ceramic is a new type of composite material that can simultaneously have the advantages of resistance to radiation,rapid decay,and high light output of scintillation crystals,as well as the advantages of easy glass preparation,easy composition adjustment,and low cost.However,their research is still in the initial research stage.The preparation of high-transmittance,no-misciferous phase and high crystallinity scintillation glass-ceramics is one of the major challenges in the field.In this paper,YAG:Ce transparent glass-ceramics and YAG:Ce,Tb transparent glass-ceramics with good physicochemical properties,optical properties and scintillation properties were successfully prepared using the aerodynamic levitation containerless technique and the heat treatment bulk crystallization method,and systematically studied the effect of heat treatment temperature and rare earth ion doping concentration on the structure,optical properties and scintillation properties of two kinds of scintillation glass-ceramics,and mainly reached the following conclusions:?1?Using binary oxide as raw materials,the glass-ceramics containing only YAG crystal phase can be obtained in?27-x?Y₂O₃-73Al₂O₃:2xCe/Tb glass,and its crystallite size is 10-40 nm;the maximum density is 4.1753g/cm³,the highest crystalline phase volume ratio is 54%;the maximum Vickers hardness is 1650Hv;and visible light transmittance is greater than 50%.?2?With the increase of heat treatment temperature,the fluorescence intensity of YAG:Ce glass-ceramics increases monotonously and reaches the maximum at 930?.With the increase of Ce³⁺concentration,the fluorescence intensity increases first and then decreases,and reaches the highest when Ce³⁺concentration is 0.05%.When the ambient temperature rises,the fluorescence intensity increases first and then decreases,and it is the strongest at 225?,which is 337%at room temperature;at room temperature,their fluorescence lifetime is similar to the fluorescence intensity.YAG:Ce crystallized glass obtained by heat treatment at 930? can exhibit high XEL fluorescence intensity.?3?The fluorescence intensity of YAG:Ce,Tb glass-ceramics was significantly lower than that of corresponding Yb:Tb³⁺ion-doped YAG:Tb samples under 280 nm light excitation.But the fluorescence intensity of Ce³⁺ions was the same as that of the single-doped samples,suggesting Ce³⁺is easier to enter the YAG lattice than Tb³⁺.However,no significant effect of co-doping of Tb³⁺on the lifetime of Ce³⁺has been observed.Under 280 nm light and X-ray excitation,the energy transfer of Tb³⁺?Ce³⁺can be observed,but the efficiency is low.The YAG:0.27Ce,1.35Tb GC 900?/2h samples have good XEL properties.?4?YAG:Ce transparent glass-ceramics can also be prepared using commercial phosphors and Al₂O₃ as raw materials,but a small amount of YAM?Y₄Al₂O₉?phase is associated with it,and its spectral properties are similar to those of the glass-ceramics made from oxide raw materials,but the fluorescence intensity is weaker,and the lifetime is reduced to 45ns.