Optical properties of Dy2O3, Tb4O7 singly doped, Dy2O3/Tb4O7 codoped borogermanate-tellurite glasses for radiation application

Abstract

In this paper, Dy2O3, Tb4O7 singly doped and Dy2O3/Tb4O7-codoped borogermanate-tellurite glasses for radiation application were synthesized by a melt-quenching method. The density of developed glasses exceeds 5.0 g/cm3, which is the fundamental requirement of dense scintillators in the application fields of medical imaging and high-energy physics engineering. The optical properties of these glass scintillators were systematically studied by transmittance, photoluminescence (PL) and X-ray excited luminescence (XEL) spectra, together with the corresponding photoluminescence dynamic process. The transmittance results reveal that the transmittance rate of all glasses can reach at the vicinity of 80%. The optimal content of Dy2O3 and Tb4O7 for both PL and XEL intensity were determined under ultraviolet light and X-ray excitation, respectively. The energy transfer occurred from Dy3+ to Tb3+ ions were demonstrated, and the energy transfer efficiency from Dy3+ to Tb3+ ions is observed to increase with higherTb4O7content. The scintillation efficiency of Dy3+, Tb3+doped, and Dy3+/Tb3+ co-doped borogermanate-tellurite scintillating glasses is about 10.45%, 41.38%, and 38.73% of the standard Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) crystal, respectively.