Intrinsic scintillators: TlMgCl3 and TlCaI3

Publication date: 1 October 2017
Source:Journal of Crystal Growth, Volume 475
Author(s): R. Hawrami, E. Ariesanti, H. Wei, J. Finkelstein, J. Glodo, K.S. Shah
Two intrinsic scintillators TlMgCl3 and TlCaI3 with excellent energy resolution and fast scintillation decay are presented. Crack-free transparent crystals were successfully grown by the Bridgman method. The scintillation light yields of TlMgCl3 and TlCaI3 are approximately 30,600ph/MeV and 42,200ph/MeV, respectively. Their energy resolutions at 662keV are 3.7% for TlMgCl3 and 6.2% for TlCaI3. The scintillation decay times of TlMgCl3 are 46ns, 166ns, and 449ns. The scintillation decay times of TlCaI3 are 62ns, 200ns, and 1.44μs. Under X-ray irradiation, the emission of TlMgCl3 is between 300nm and 540nm with the peak at 409nm. TlCaI3 has a broad emission band between 300nm and 750nm. Due to their excellent scintillation properties, these two scintillators can be developed for gamma-ray detection. Additionally, TlMgCl3 is non-hygroscopic.