A detailed study on Gd2SiO5 scintillators: recovery from increased photon yield following irradiation

Increased light intensity and recovery of GSO scintillators following irradiation were studied by using accelerator beams of 290 MeV/n carbon nuclei. This is the first measurement of recovery phase by using accelerator beams. The obtained results were consistent with previous results obtained by using Co-60 gamma rays and UV excitation. We confirmed a 23% increase in light intensity following irradiation with 7.4 kGy as well as exponential recovery on a time scale of 10(4)s. The temporal profile of recovery was fitted by a single exponential with an asymptotic increase of 13 +/- 1% relative to the light intensity before irradiation. Active recovery was attempted by exposing an irradiated GSO sample to infrared light with intensity up to 8.3 kW/cm(2), but no indication of accelerated recovery was observed.