Structural and optical properties of Nd- and Tb-doped BaY2F8

In the present work, we report the optical properties of rare-earth doped BaY2F8 and its potential use as a scintillator in radiation detection. The samples were synthesized and grown by the zone melting method under a HF flow. X-ray powder diffraction was performed and quantitative phase analysis was done using the Rietveld method. Emission and excitation spectra of the doped samples were measured at room temperature. The identification of the transitions was done comparing the excitation and emission peaks with the results obtained from computer modelling. The scintillator properties of the pure and doped samples were checked by measuring the radioluminescence of the sample when excited with different types of radiation, revealing that these materials are promising radiation detectors.