Open AccessCrystallization control toward colorless cerium-doped scintillating glass
Author(s) -
Pei Liu,
Shasha Lv,
Xiaopu Chen,
Junzhou Tang,
Jiang Li,
Shifeng Zhou
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.26.020582
Subject(s) - cerium , materials science , doping , crystallization , phosphor , luminescence , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical engineering , optics , optoelectronics , mineralogy , metallurgy , chemistry , physics , chromatography , engineering
The construction of cerium-doped materials is of great technological importance for various applications, including smart lighting, biological shielding and high-energy ray and particle detection. A major challenge is the efficient prevention of the undesired colorization after cerium doping. Here we present the nanocrystallization method for constructing colorless cerium-doped glass with extremely high cerium concentration (15 mol%). The structure and optical characterizations confirm that the notable color change of glass is associated with the precipitation of CeF 3 crystalline phase during heat-treatment. The chemical state investigation shows that most of cerium ions exist in the form of Ce 3+ in both the glass and glass-ceramic samples. The chemical environment study indicates a dramatic change in the local structure unit from -Ce-O- to -Ce-F-, which is believed to dominate the decoloring phenomenon in cerium doped glass. As a result, a significant improvement in the ultraviolet excited luminescence (~35 times enhancement in intensity) and scintillating performance can be achieved, pointing to potential applications in X-ray detection.