Scintillation Performance of Aliovalently-Doped ${\rm CeBr}_{3}$

Strengthening the crystal lattice of lanthanide halides, which are brittle, anisotropic, ionic crystals, may prove to increase the availability and ruggedness of these scintillators for room-temperature gamma-ray spectroscopy applications. Eight aliovalent dopants for CeBr₃ were explored in an effort to find the optimal aliovalent strengthening agent. Eight dopants, CaBr₂, SrBr₂, BaBr₂, ZrBr₄, HfBr₄, ZnBr₂, CdBr₂, and PbBr₂, were explored at two levels of doping, 500 and 1000 ppm. From each ingot, samples were harvested for radioluminescence spectrum measurement and scintillation testing. Of the eight dopants explored, only BaBr₂ and PbBr₂ were found to clearly decrease total light yield. ZnBr₂ and CdBr₂ dopants both affected the radioluminescence emission spectrum very little as compared to undoped CeBr₃. HfBr₄- and ZnBr₂-doped CeBr₃ exhibited the highest light yields.