Optical, scintillation and dosimeter properties of MgO:Tb translucent ceramics synthesized by the SPS method.

MgO translucent ceramics doped with different concentrations of Tb (0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5%) were prepared by the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) method. Further, the optical, scintillation, dosimeter properties of were evaluated systematically. In the photoluminescence (PL) and scintillation spectra, sharp emission peaks due to the 4f-4f transitions of Tb 3+ were observed. In the PL and scintillation decay curves, the decay time constants were a few ms which were on a typical order of the 4f-4f transitions of Tb 3+ . The thermally-stimulated luminescence (TSL) glow curves exhibited glow peaks around 80, 160 °C after X ray irradiation of 10 mGy. The intensity of TSL peak at 160 °C exhibited a linear response against X-ray dose over a dose range of 0.1–10 mGy. The optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) under 590 nm stimulation exhibited strong emissions due to Tb 3+ around 385–550 nm after X-ray irradiation. As in TSL, the intensity of OSL peak showed a linear response to X-ray dose, and the dynamic range confirmed was 0.1–1000 mGy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]