Crystal growth and optical properties of γ-CuI by vertical Bridgman method

Abstract

The cuprous iodide (γ-CuI) exhibits an ultrafast scintillation property with decay time about 90 ps and shows a great potential application in ultrafast scintillators. In this paper, the γ-CuI crystal with dimensions of φ 10 mm × 24 mm was obtained by the vertical Bridgman method for the first time. The effects of raw material purification, furnace temperature, cooling and pulling rates crystal growth were presented in detail. The optimum growth conditions are as follows: pulling rate at 0.33 mm/h, cooling rate at 8.96 °C/h after growth, the furnace temperature at 675 °C. The optical transmittance, the photoluminescence and the X-ray excited luminescence of the as-grown crystals were characterized.