Radio-photoluminescence properties of silver-doped cesium chloride transparent ceramics

We discovered and reported that 0.01, 0.1 and 1% Ag-doped CsCl transparent ceramics by spark plasma sintering technique showed radiophotoluminescence (RPL). All the samples showed high transmittance (50-70%) in the visible range. Under 340 nm +/- 40 nm excitation, the PL emission was observed around 450 nm before X-ray irradiation while PL emission peaks appeared around 450 and 610 nm after X-ray irradiation. Judged from excitation and emission spectra and lifetimes, the origins of emission bands around 450 and 610 nm would be Ag0/Ag2+ and Ag2+ centers, respectively. The RPL signal was confirmed to be stable over 3 min under an excitation of 340 nm +/- 40 nm. Among the synthesized samples, the lowest detectable sensitivity for the 1% Ag-doped CsCl samples was 3 mGy for the emission range of 400-550 nm.