Titanium-doped LiAlO2 ceramics for neutron scintillation

Abstract

A series of bulk ceramic samples of titanium-doped LiAlO2 with doping concentrations of 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 at% were prepared using a sol-gel method. The LiAlO2:Ti samples showed emission in two spectral regions around 380 and 765 nm associated with the CT transition of Ti4+ and the d-d transition of Fe3+ impurities, respectively. The sample composition with 0.5 at% doping concentration exhibited the highest emission intensity. Furthermore, dense ceramic samples with 0.5 at% Ti-doping were prepared using spark plasma sintering. These samples exhibited intense CT luminescence of Ti4+ at 380 nm with a decay time of approximately 2.3 μs, while the emission of Fe3+ impurities was mostly suppressed.