Physical and luminescence properties of Ce3+ activated strontium phosphate glasses

Strontium phosphate (SrO–P2O5–Al2O3–Gd2O3) glasses with 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, and 1 mol % CeO2 were prepared by the conventional melt quenching technique. These glasses' luminescence, scintillation, and physical properties were measured and discussed in detail. The density, refractive index, and oxygen packing density of the studied glasses were increased with an increase in CeO2 concentration. At lower concentrations of CeO2, the characteristic 310 nm emission from Gd3+ and broadband emission from Ce3+ ions were obtained under X-ray excitations. The intensity of both Gd3+ and Ce3+ emission bands under 270 nm Gd3+ excitations reduced with further increase in CeO2, showing the delayed energy transfer from Gd3+ to Ce3+ ions. The integrated X-ray-induced luminescence intensity of 0.5% CeO2 glass was found to be 21% that of reference BGO crystal. For the lower concentration of CeO2, a slow decay time along with the fast Ce3+ decay was observed and disappears for higher CeO2 concentrations. The fast luminescence decay in the range of 22 ns–30 ns was observed for all the PSAG:Ce glasses, which was attributed to the lifetime of the 4f-5d transition of the Ce3+ ions. The faster decay time and reasonable scintillation light suggest the application of these glasses for radiation detector applications.