High-energy-resolution scintillator:: Ce3+ activated LaCl3

The scintillation properties of LaCl3 doped with 10% Ce3+ are presented. Under optical and gamma ray excitation, Ce3+ emission is observed to peak at 330 and 352 nm. The scintillation light output is 46 000 +/- 1000 photons/MeV at 662 keV. Forty percent is emitted with a decay time of 26 ns, 30% with 210 ns, and 30% with about 1000 ns. An energy resolution (full width at half maximum over the peak position) of 3.3 +/- 0.3% was observed for the 662 keV full absorption peak. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)03936-X].