Structure and scintillation of Eu2+-activated BaBrCl and solid solutions in the BaCl2–BaBr2 system

The structure and scintillation properties of BaBrCl:xEu2+(x=0–0.12) and Eu2+ activated solid solutions in the BaCl2–BaBr2 system are reported. Samples were synthesized in the form of 1–5 mm crystals by melting the reactants in sealed quartz tubes followed by slow cooling. The solid solutions form an orthorhombic PbCl2-type crystal structure with an ordered arrangement of the anions. Upon optical and X-ray excitation, the samples show an intense emission centered between 407 and 412 nm. The samples exhibit a fast decay characteristic of Eu2+, with the primary decay component between 550 and 700 ns, depending on the Eu concentration. The luminosity for the solid solutions is estimated to be similar to the binary halide end members.