Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of nano Gd2O3(Eu) scintillator for high resolution X-ray imaging application

Gd
₂
O
₃
:Eu scintillators with nano-crystalline structures were successfully synthesized through a hydrothermal process and subsequent calcination treatment as a converter for X-ray imaging detectors. In this work, Eu-doped Gd
₂
O
₃
nano-crystalline powders as a function of calcination temperatures and times were prepared by a hydrothermal process and subsequent calcination in the electrical furnace. Scintillation properties such as luminescent spectra, light intensity and decay time were measured by changing the temperatures and times in heat-treatment of as-synthesized nanocrystalline powders. The synthesized samples with different morphology such as nano rods and particles due to calcination temperature were observed. The sample prepared at 1100°C calcination temperature and 5 hour showed the highest light intensity by X-ray excitation. And the scintillator emitted a strong red light at near 611nm under photo-and X-ray luminescence for its potential X-ray imaging detector applications.