Growth and scintillation performances of SrI2:Eu with low activator concentration

Abstract : SrI2:Eu crystals with the activator content of 0.1–5.5% were grown by the Bridgman-Stockbarger technique. The dependences of light yield, energy resolution, optical and luminescent properties on the Eu concentration have been studied. It has been shown that with a decrease in the amount of activator to 0.3% Eu, the energy resolution at 662 keV remains below 4%. The light yield gradually diminishes with decreasing Eu concentration. This makes it possible to revise the required amount of the expensive activator for growing high performance SrI2:Eu crystals. Scintillation parameters of crystals grown by the Czochralski and Bridgman-Stockbarger technique have been compared.