Radiation hard gallium oxide scintillators for high count rate radiation detection

Journal Article · Tue Oct 25 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Optical Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2022.113115· OSTI ID:1894485

Datta, A.  ^[1]; Toufanian, R. ^[1]; Zhang, W. ^[2]; Halasyamani, P. S. ^[2]; Motakef, S. ^[1]

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1. CapeSym Inc., Natick, MA (United States)
2. Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)

Despite decades of materials research, the availability of appropriate crystalline radiation-hard scintillators with ultrafast decay times (~10ns) and high light yields (>2000 ph/MeV) are still limited. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of gallium oxide (β-Ga₂O₃) based scintillators for high count rate applications. The low-cost rugged β-Ga₂O₃ scintillators were grown using the optical float zone (FZ) technique. Several dopants and growth atmospheres were used to demonstrate the balance between ultrafast primary decay time and the light yield of the scintillators. Light yields as high as 6446 ± 716 ph/MeV were obtained with 18.3 ns decay time for 662 keV gamma rays. Decay times as fast as 12ns were obtained with a 3212 ± 357 ph/MeV light yield. An excellent 662 keV gamma energy resolution of 7% was obtained using the β-Ga₂O₃:Ce crystals. Even with these excellent scintillation properties, the gamma radiation hardness of β-Ga₂O₃ crystals was better than the leading radiation-hard lead tungstate (PbWO₄) crystals. Twenty-six scintillators fabricated from the grown β-Ga₂O₃ crystals were tested for radiation hardness with a ⁶⁰Co gamma irradiation rate of 14 krad/h with a total radiation dose of 2 Mrad. The scintillation properties of these crystals remained unaffected. To date, no other scintillator has demonstrated such high radiation resistance. Furthermore, these FZ-grown low-cost, non-hygroscopic, and high-density β-Ga₂O₃ scintillators can replace the existing scintillators in many applications ranging from nuclear and high energy physics experiments to nuclear security.

• Research Organization: CapeSym Inc., Natick, MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0021476
• OSTI ID: 1894485
• Journal Information: Optical Materials, Vol. 134; ISSN 0925-3467
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Scintillator
Radiation hard
Ultrafast
Fast decay
Oxide
Rugged
Gamma detection
Fast growth
Float zone crystal growth