Comparison of Photoluminescence and Scintillation Properties Between Lu₂O₃:Eu Single Crystal and Transparent Ceramic

Lu
₂
O
₃
:Eu single crystals (SCs) and transparent ceramics (TCs) were prepared by the optical floating zone (OFZ) method and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) sintering method, respectively. Their photoluminescence (PL) and scintillation properties, including photoluminescence excitation (PLE) and PL, PL decay, X-ray excited luminescence (XEL) and afterglow level curves, were measured and compared. Their transmission spectra were also recorded. The differences of the PL and scintillation performance between the Lu
₂
O
₃
:Eu SC and TC have been studied. It is shown that the transmittance of the SC is higher than that of the TC, reaching as high as 80%. The Eu( S
₆
)→ Eu(C
₂
) energy transfer states in the SC and TC are comparable through investigating the PL and PL decay curves. The main difference between the SC and TC in this work comes from the scintillation luminescence efficiency and afterglow level. The XEL intensity of the SC is 2.4 times that of the TC. The afterglow level of the TC is significantly higher than that of the SC, which probably results from the carrier traps formed in the forbidden gap related to the grain interface in ceramics sample.