Photoluminescence, scintillation and thermoluminescent properties of Tb-doped BaCaBO3F

Abstract

We evaluated photoluminescence, scintillation and thermoluminescent characteristics of BaCaBO3F doped with various amounts of Tb to fabricate new thermoluminescent phosphors for radiation measurements. Sharp peaks centered at 491, 542 and 589 nm originating from the electronic 4f→4f transitions of Tb3+ appeared in the BaCaBO3F doped with Tb in photoluminescence spectra and X-ray induced scintillation spectra. These derived decay times under ultraviolet light and X-ray were approximately 1.25–1.36 ms and 1.28–1.50 ms, respectively. Moreover, the BaCaBO3F doped with Tb showed efficient thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL). They exhibited two TSL glow peaks at around 90 and 210 °C. Their dynamic ranges of the TSL glow peaks at around 90 °C and 210 °C were 1–1000 mGy for the 0.1–0.5% Tb-doped BaCaBO3F, and 10–1000 mGy for the 0.5% Tb-doped BaCaBO3F, respectively. Moreover, thermal activation energies were evaluated by the isothermal decay analysis, suggesting that at least twelve trapping levels could be formed in the BaCaBO3F doped with Tb.