High z ceramic and nanomaterial scintillators

High Z ceramic (YAG:Ce, BGO) and nanoparticle (MWO4 M= Ca,Cd,Pb) scintillators are of interest for the production of non-single crystal radiation detectors. These scintillators are being evaluated, due to their chemical stability (non-hygroscopic), to probe particle size/morphology effects on scintillation. To probe these effects, commercial powders were purchased and novel synthetic routes were undertaken to produce high z scintillators with various particle sizes/morphologies. The scintillation behaviors of the various particles were examined with ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL), in situ ion beam transmission electron microscopy; photoluminescence (PL), and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy techniques. Full details on the synthesis and characterization will be discussed. This work was funded in part by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.