Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

First Principle Quantum Description of the Energetics Associated with LaBr3, LaCl3, and Ce Doped Scintillators

Conference ·
OSTI ID:924502
Considerable interest is given to the excellent scintillation properties of cerium doped lanthanum chloride (LaCl3) and lanthanum bromide (LaBr3). The scintillation efficiencies are much greater than other materials, even those containing cerium. This high efficiency is attributed to the high mobility of electrons and holes, unique placement of the cerium 5d states within the band gap, and energy of the band gap. To better understand the scintillation process and better define the nature of the Self Trapped Exciton (STE) within these unique scintillation materials, density functional theory (DFT), and Ab-inito (HF-MP2) calculations are reported. DFT calculations have yielded a qualitative description of the orbital composition and energy distribution of the band structure in the crystalline material. MP2 and single configuration interaction calculations have provided quantitative values for the band gap and provided energies for the possible range of excited states created following hole and electron creation. Based on this theoretical treatment, one possible description of the STE is the combination of Vk center (Br2-1) and LaBr+1 species that recombine to form a distorted geometry LaBr3* (triplet state). Depending on the distance between the LaBr and Br2, the STE emission band can be reproduced.
Research Organization:
Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE - SC
DOE Contract Number:
AC07-99ID13727
OSTI ID:
924502
Report Number(s):
INL/CON-07-13435
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

First Principle Quantum Description of the Energetics Associated with LaBr3, LaC13, and Ce Doped Scintillators
Conference · Fri Feb 29 23:00:00 EST 2008 · OSTI ID:927632

Comparison of CeBr3 with LaBr3:Ce, LaCl3:Ce, and NaI:Tl Detectors
Journal Article · Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Proceedings of the SPIE · OSTI ID:1055235

Electronic structure of LaBr3from quasiparticle self-consistentGWcalculations
Journal Article · Wed Mar 28 20:00:00 EDT 2012 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics · OSTI ID:1872690