The effect of radiation damage on optical and scintillation properties of BGO crystals grown by the LTG Cz technique

BGO crystals grown by the low-thermal-gradient Czochralski technique (LTG Cz) exhibit two distinct types of behavior upon radiation damage and recovery. The crystals termed as of L-type remain colorless after γ-radiation doses as high as 10 Mrad. As the irradiation dose increases the scintillation light output shows a weak monotonous degradation to 15–25%, saturating at around several hundreds krad doses. The crystals termed as of N-type attain yellow coloration after irradiation. The light output drops abruptly for 35–50% as early as after 1 krad and does not change further on. The present work is devoted to the study of radiation damage effects, self-recovery, optically stimulated recovery and thermo-stimulated current in the L- and N-type BGO crystals produced by LTG Cz.