Crystal Growth Scale-Up and Stability of RbSr₂X₅:Eu Scintillators

Journal Article · Fri Nov 07 00:00:00 EST 2025 · Crystal Growth & Design

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.5c00988· OSTI ID:3001075

Pestovich, Kimberly S. ^[1]; Stand, Luis ^[1]; Gillespie, Megan ^[1]; Melcher, Charles L. ^[1]; van Loef, Edgar ^[2]; Zhuravleva, Mariya ^[1]

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1. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
2. Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., Watertown, MA (United States)

The discovery and development of new scintillation materials support national security needs. In these applications, large volumes of scintillator crystals are needed to achieve efficient screening for contraband. Therefore, one important step in the discovery of new scintillator compositions is testing their feasibility for scale-up and their stability. In this work, high-quality Ø22 mm crystals of two new scintillators RbSr₂Br₅:Eu and RbSr₂I₅:Eu were grown via the Vertical Bridgman method, and their scintillation properties were characterized. Here, the Ø22 mm RbSr₂I₅:Eu crystals could be grown with fast translation rates up to 3.5 mm/h. Both RbSr₂Br₅:Eu and RbSr₂I₅:Eu had high scintillation performance, including light yields of 46,000 and 61,000 ph/MeV, respectively, for Ø22 × 35 mm crystals. Additionally, properties related to physical stability were investigated, including the coefficients of thermal expansion via high-temperature X-ray diffraction (HTXRD) as well as moisture sensitivity. HTXRD confirmed the absence of solid–solid phase transitions and showed that RbSr₂Br₅ had minimal thermal expansion anisotropy compared to RbSr₂I₅ and some other inorganic metal halide scintillators, which favors the growth of large-sized crystals.

• Research Organization: University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: U.S. Department of Homeland Security; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: NA0003996
• OSTI ID: 3001075
• Journal Information: Crystal Growth & Design, Journal Name: Crystal Growth & Design; ISSN 1528-7505; ISSN 1528-7483
• Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
crystal growth
crystallization
crystals
halogens
inorganic compounds
radiation detection
scintillators
thermal expansion