Radio- and Photoluminescence Properties of Nd-doped Barium Chloride Transparent Ceramic and Single Crystal

1.0% Nd-doped BaCl 2 transparent ceramic and single crystal samples were respectively prepared by spark plasma sintering and the vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger method to compare their optical and scintillation properties.The photoluminescence quantum yield of the crystal sample was 5.4% under 580 nm excitation, whereas that of the ceramic sample was below the detection limit of the device.In the scintillation spectra, multiple emission peaks derived from 4f-4f transitions of Nd 3+ were observed in the 530-1330 nm range for both samples.For the dose rate response function, the lower detection limits of the ceramic and crystal samples were 0.03 and 0.003 Gy/h, respectively.Our samples had better detection limits than previously reported values of Nd:CsI (0.06 Gy/h) and Nd:CaWO 4 (0.06 Gy/h) single crystals.