Bismuth silicate Bi4Si3O12, a faster scintillator than bismuth germanate Bi4Ge3O12

Single crystals of bismuth silicate were grown by the Bridgman method. The excitation and emission spectra are similar to BGO. The light output is 20% of BGO, giving FWHM energy resolution of 31% for 662 keV γ-rays (137Cs). The decay constants are 2.4 ns (for 6% of intensity), 26 ns (12%) and 99 ns (82%). The radiation hardness against 60Co γ-rays was about 105–106 rad at the emission peak of 480 nm. Spontaneous recovery as well as optical annealing was also studied. BSO may be one the promising scintillators for high energy physics experiments.