Role of Al3+ on tuning optical properties of Ce3+‐activated borosilicate scintillating glasses prepared in air

Abstract A colorless Ce 3+ ‐activated borosilicate scintillating glass enriched with Gd 2 O 3 is successfully synthesized in air atmosphere for the first time. The full replacement of 10 mol% BaO by Al 2 O 3 , and the partial substitution of 3 mol% SiO 2 by Si 3 N 4 in the designed glass composition are crucial for this success. The role of Al 3+ on tuning the optical properties of Ce 3+ ‐activated borosilicate scintillating glass synthesized in air are analyzed by optical transmittance, X‐ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) spectra, photoluminescence (PL) and radioluminescence (RL) spectra. The results suggest that the stable Ce 4+ ions can be effectively reduced to stable Ce 3+ ions by the full replacement of BaO by Al 2 O 3 , and both the PL andRL intensity of the designed borosilicate scintillating glass are enhanced by a factor of 6.7 and 5.2, respectively. The integral RL intensity of the synthesized Ce 3+ ‐activated borosilicate scintillating glass is ~17.2%BGO, with a light output of about 1180 ph/MeV. The strategy of substituting BaO by Al 2 O 3 will trigger more scientific and technological considerations in designing novel fast scintillating glasses.