A novel scintillating material based on Cu+ doped borate glass

Luminescence glass is an inspiring scintillating material because of the unique merits including simple preparation process, mass production and low-cost. However, it is still a daunting challenge to explore the scintillating glass which can be applied in practical life. Herein, a novel Cu+ doped borate glass scintillator was successfully fabricated under air atmosphere by introducing proper Si3N4 in melting process. The resultant glass exhibits broadband luminescence under ultraviolet (UV) light or X-ray excitation. Through the low temperature thermal treatment, both luminescence induced by UV and X-ray can be significantly enhanced. The quantum efficiency reaches as high as 74.2%. And the sample endows superior thermal stability with the emission intensity at 573 K still maintaining 62.5% of that at 303 K. The X-ray excited luminescence is 37.8% of that of the commercial Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) crystal. Furthermore, the damaged sample even stimulated by high-energy X-ray can be restored to original level completely after heat treatment again. Besides, the sample presents outstanding optical thermometric performance based on the fluorescence decay lifetime. These findings confirm that the as-prepared Cu+ doped borate glass is a promising candidate applied in the areas of scintillator and temperature sensor.