Synthesis and scintillation properties of cerium-doped Gd2SiO5 nanopowders under alpha radiation and the importance of selecting the appropriate calcination temperature

In this study, single phase cerium-doped Gd2SiO5 (GSO:Ce) nanopowders were successfully synthesized by a Pechini sol-gel process, and the effect of calcination temperature on the crystallinity and purity of GSO phase was investigated by XRD and FTIR analyses. The suitable temperature for calcination of nanopowders and the formation of single phase GSO is estimated to be about 1250 degrees C. The morphology of samples, elemental composition, and nanoparticle size distribution of the single phase sample were examined by using FESEM, EDX, and DLS analyses. In addition to crystallite size and crystal lattice strain, the crystal lattice parameters of this sample were obtained using a series of equations, the results of which are very close to those obtained from the Rietveld refinement method. Studies show that unlike undoped GSO single crystal, the optical absorption spectra of synthesized GSO nanopowders are continuous and doping with 2 mol% cerium causes the highest photoluminescence intensity at 435 nm under excitation at 345 nm. The scintillation pulse height spectra of these samples were also investigated under alpha radiation. Finally, the importance of selecting the appropriate calcination temperature and its effect on the size of the nanoparticles, photoluminescence intensity, and scintillation pulse height spectrum has been studied.