Hole traps in Lu2O3:Eu ceramic scintillators. I. Persistent afterglow

The temporal dependence of X-ray excited scintillation from Eu3+-activated lutetium oxide transparent optical ceramic has been studied both experimentally and theoretically. The waveform of the decay was measured on time scales ranging from 100 ns to 5 min. Kinetic equations were applied and a computational model was developed to describe the observed temporal behavior. This model involves two overlapping Gaussian distributions of trap depths; those ranging from 0.58 to 1.0 eV may contribute to afterglow.