Improvement of scintillation light yield of Tb:CaHfO3 by Mg-substitution

Abstract

1.0 % Tb:Ca1-xMgxHfO3 (x = 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1) single crystals were synthesized by the floating zone technique, and their photoluminescence and scintillation properties were evaluated. The x = 0.1 sample showed the highest quantum yield of 18.7 % under excitation at 250 nm among all the samples. All the samples showed scintillation with multiple emission lines originating from the 4f–4f transitions of Tb3+. From the pulse height spectra, the highest light yield was 17,400 photons/MeV in the x = 0.075 sample among the samples, and all the samples outperformed the light yield of the unsubstituted one.