Abstract We report the absorption and emission properties of neodymium (Nd3+)-doped APLF glasses [20Al(PO3)3-80LiF + x NdF3, x = 0.5–2.0 mol%] as potential vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) scintillator materials due to their interconfigurational 4f25d transitions which have not yet been investigated. The Nd3+-doped APLF glasses exhibit absorption and emission peaks from the VUV to the near-infrared (NIR) regions which correspond to the different interconfigurational 4f25d and intraconfigurational 4f3 transitions of Nd3+ ions. Detailed analysis of the absorption and emission spectra reveals that the Nd3+-doped glass has a disordered structure and low symmetry, as expected from amorphous materials. However, the most important feature of these glasses is their electric-dipole allowed 4f25d → 4f3 (4I9/2) broadband emissions, between two configurations of opposite parity, around 187 nm (VUV) whose ~ 5.0 ns decay times are faster than known Nd3+-doped scintillators. At room temperature (RT), the absorption edge located around 192 nm overlaps with this VUV emission indicating that self-absorption primarily limits the emission intensity. This overlap could potentially be minimized by working at low temperatures and doping with higher (>2.0 mol%) concentrations. Despite the presence of self-absorption, the fast emission decay times from the 4f25d excited state make the Nd3+-doped APLF glasses promising new VUV scintillator materials for high-counting-rate fast neutron detection.

中文翻译：

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用于潜在 VUV 闪烁体应用的 Nd3+ 掺杂 20Al(PO3)3-80LiF 玻璃的电偶极子允许 4f25d → 4f3 宽带发射的研究

摘要 我们报告了掺钕 (Nd3+) 的 APLF 玻璃 [20Al(PO3)3-80LiF + x NdF3, x = 0.5–2.0 mol%] 作为潜在真空紫外 (VUV) 闪烁体材料的吸收和发射特性，因为它们具有互构性。尚未研究的 4f25d 转换。Nd3+ 掺杂的 APLF 玻璃表现出从 VUV 到近红外 (NIR) 区域的吸收和发射峰，这对应于 Nd3+ 离子的不同构型间 4f25d 和构型内 4f3 跃迁。吸收和发射光谱的详细分析表明，Nd3+ 掺杂玻璃具有无序结构和低对称性，正如非晶材料所预期的那样。然而，这些玻璃最重要的特征是它们的电偶极子允许 4f25d → 4f3 (4I9/2) 宽带发射，在相反奇偶性的两种配置之间，大约 187 nm (VUV)，其~5.0 ns 的衰减时间比已知的 Nd3+ 掺杂闪烁体快。在室温 (RT) 下，位于 192 nm 附近的吸收边缘与该 VUV 发射重叠，表明自吸收主要限制了发射强度。通过在低温下工作并以更高（> 2.0 mol%）的浓度掺杂，这种重叠可能会被最小化。尽管存在自吸收，但 4f25d 激发态的快速发射衰减时间使 Nd3+ 掺杂的 APLF 玻璃有望用于高计数率快速中子检测的新型 VUV 闪烁体材料。位于 192 nm 附近的吸收边缘与该 VUV 发射重叠，表明自吸收主要限制了发射强度。通过在低温下工作并以更高（> 2.0 mol%）的浓度掺杂，这种重叠可能会被最小化。尽管存在自吸收，但 4f25d 激发态的快速发射衰减时间使 Nd3+ 掺杂的 APLF 玻璃有望用于高计数率快速中子检测的新型 VUV 闪烁体材料。位于 192 nm 附近的吸收边缘与该 VUV 发射重叠，表明自吸收主要限制了发射强度。通过在低温下工作并以更高（> 2.0 mol%）的浓度掺杂，这种重叠可能会被最小化。尽管存在自吸收，但 4f25d 激发态的快速发射衰减时间使 Nd3+ 掺杂的 APLF 玻璃有望用于高计数率快速中子检测的新型 VUV 闪烁体材料。