Epitaxial growth, photoluminescence and scintillation properties of Gd3+ co-doped YAlO3:Ce3+ films

In this study, the Gd3+-substituted yttrium aluminum perovskite epitaxial films activated by Ce3+ ions, (YGd)AlO3:Ce3+ with Gd content 0-44%, were prepared by liquid phase epitaxy technique and their optical, luminescence, and scintillation properties were studied. The results showed that films with Gd content below 20% had greater photoluminescence and radioluminescence intensities. For higher Gd concentrations, the Ce3+ emission gradually decreased and the Ce3+ decays were accelerated. The model of bidirectional non-radiative energy transfer between Gd3+ and Ce3+ ions and energy migration over the Gd3+ sublattice is suggested and the processes responsible for the observed effects are discussed.