Slow component suppression and radiation damage in doped BaF2 crystals

The scintillation and radiation damage properties of barium fluoride crystals doped with various rare earths have been studied in an attempt to develop a fast, radiation hard scintillating crystal with a suppressed slow component for use at high counting rates. The light output of doped BaF₂ samples was measured with a solar blind (CsTe) photomultiplier tube and compared with a standard bialkali phototube. For dopants showing strong slow component suppression, measurements were also made at elevated temperatures and indicate that additional suppression can be achieved by heating. Radiation damage was studied by measuring the light transmission before, during and after irradiation with ⁶⁰Co gamma rays for doses greater than 10 ⁶ rad. The results show that several dopants suppress the slow component, but only one, namely lanthanum, preserves the radiation hardness of undoped BaF₂