Scintillation properties of LuI3:Ce

Lutetium iodide (LuI3) is a new addition to the family of Ce-doped lanthanide trihalide scintillating materials. Crystals of this material show hexagonal structure with density of 5.6 g/cm3 and have been grown by the Bridgman method. Under X-ray excitation this material exhibits broad, cerium based emission that peaks at 475 and 520 nm. The fastest and major component of scintillation time profile of LuI3:Ce emission decays with a 31 ns time constant. The light yield of LuI3:Ce for thin samples (∼0.2 mm) was estimated to be ∼50,000 photons/MeV.