The influence of BaF₂ on scintillation properties of PbWO₄ crystal

Abstract

PbWO₄ crystals doped with BaF₂ was grown up by using modified temperature-grads technique. The crystal defects were investigated by chemical etching. The XRD of the sample has shown that the peaks were at normal sites, but the lattice parameters was slightly larger than that of pure PbWO₄ crystal. The transmittance spectrum along c axis of the PbWO₄:BaF₂ crystal has evidenced a higher transmittance than that of pure PbWO4 crystal. The luminescence intensity of the 400-450 nm peak in X-ray excited luminescence spectrum of the PbWO₄:BaF₂ crystal is increased significantly, about twice than that of pure PbWO₄ crystal. The light yield of BaF₂ doped PbWO₄ crystal was enhanced up to 2.5 times. These results show that BaF₂ doping of PbWO₄ can improve scintillation properties of the crystal for medium-energy particle detection.