Characterization of thallium bromide crystals purified by the filter method

Abstract

Thallium bromide (TIBr) has been regarded as candidate detector materials for the gamma-ray spectrometers operating at room temperature. In this study, a simple and rapid method, the filter method, was performed to purify a raw TIBr material used for fabrication of TIBr detectors. The material was loaded on shards of crushed quartz and installed in a Pyrex tube, and was melted using a furnace. A purified material passing through interspaces of the shards of quartz was collected in a quartz ampoule located at the outlet of the Pyrex tube. After the purification, impurities colored black extracted from the raw material remained. TlBr crystals were then grown by the travelling molten zone method both from the raw material and the purified material. TlBr detectors were fabricated from the grown crystals, and were characterized by measuring mobility-lifetime products (μτ) for carriers and gamma-ray spectra (137Cs) at room temperature. μτ for electrons of a TlBr detector fabricated from the purified material was around 5 times higher than that of a detector fabricated from the raw material.