Nanostructured scintillator developed in-house for radon detection

Abstract

The scintillation properties and radiation applications of Cu doped ZnS, which were Prepared from alumina crucibles in the nitrogen atmosphere and activated at 960 °C, have been evaluated. This article deals with the structural, optical, morphological and scintillation properties of Cu doped ZnS nanoparticles. The photoluminescence spectra demonstrate that the intensity of green emission at 524 nm rises with adding Cu ions due to surface states. In ZnS, a blue emission with energy of 2.76 eV is also observed due to the self-activation. A transition from blue-green to the green emission region with increasing the concentration of Cu in the phosphor is obtained. These highly luminescent materials possess the characteristics of an emissive powder to be used for radiation detection application. The scintillation properties of this ZnS-based phosphor material were experimentally tested and compared to other recognized commercial ZnS-based phosphors. The measured sensitivity of the fabricated 600P cell towards radon gas measurements was 0.035 cpm/Bq/m3.