Crystal growth and characterization of Eu²⁺-doped Cs₂LiLaBr₆ as a novel scintillator

In this work, a novel single crystal scintillator, Eu2+-doped Cs2LiLaBr6 (CLLB: Eu) with Phi 12 mm x 50 mm, was successfully grown by the Bridgman method. The effects of substitution amount of europium ions on the crystal structure, luminescent properties and scintillation properties were systematically studied by fluorescence spectroscopy, XEL, decay kinetics, and temperature-dependent emission spectra. The Cs2LiLaBr6:2%Eu sample presents the highest light yield under X-ray excitation, which is about 235 times that of commercial BGO single crystals. The nanosecond decay lifetime of Eu2+ was observed in Cs2LiLaBr6:Eu crystal. The afterglow result indicates that the Cs2LiLaBr6: Eu crystal has a long afterglow and the afterglow mechanism of Cs2LiLaBr6: Eu crystal was proposed and constructed. It has a potent application in nuclear radiation detection and imaging as a scintillation long afterglow material.