Scintillation of nanoparticles: Case study of rare earth doped fluorides

An investigation of the scintillation response of rare earth doped fluoride nanoparticles was carried out taking advantage of core/multi-shell structures. A significant enhancement of the scintillation response was observed and attributed to the increase of the volume of the nanoparticles. Larger nanoparticles contain larger fractions of the irradiation cascade, their dimensions approach the electron-hole mean recombination length increasing the probability of radiative recombination, and separates the luminescence centers in the core from quenching defects on the surface of the nanoparticles.