Thermally stimulated luminescence of Ce and Tb doped SiO2 sol–gel glasses

Abstract Thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) properties of cerium and terbium doped SiO2 sol–gel glasses were studied after X-ray irradiation in the temperature range 10–700 K. The role of Ce3+ and Tb3+ as recombination centers was shown. The existence of a distribution of trap levels was observed; the activation energies of such a distribution were calculated to extend from about 8 × 10−3 eV up to 1.8 eV for both cerium and terbium doped sol–gel glasses. The effect of a post-densification thermal treatment on TSL properties was also analyzed.