Design, simulation, elaboration and luminescence of Tb3+-doped Ba0.84Gd0.16F2.16 fluoroaluminosilicate scintillating glass ceramics

Extensive researches on scintillators have been executed to satisfy the excellent radiation detection materials in broad applications. However, practical application of conventional scintillators is limited due to the limitations of high cost, time-consuming fabrication process and insufficient radioluminescence. Herein, high density precursor glass doped with Tb3+ was designed to absorb X-ray efficiently and produce green emission. Molecular dynamics simulation was used to simulate the phase separation process in melting process. Then, Tb3+-doped Ba0.84Gd0.16F2.16 glass ceramics (GCs) with excellent structural and optical properties were elaborated by melt quenching technic and further heat treating. Their structural properties, photoluminescence (PL) and X-ray excited luminescence (XEL) were explored detailedly. The internal quantum efficiency of PL is 64 % in GCs. The XEL intensity is 192 % of that of Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) commercial scintillator. Our results suggest that Ba0.84Gd0.16F2.16:Tb3+ GCs might have potential application in X-ray detection.