Luminescence, scintillation, and energy transfer properties of sol-gel synthesized SiO ₂ :Ce,Tb powder for gamma radiation

The sol-gel method was used to synthesize <i>S</i><i>i</i><i>O</i>₂:<i>C</i><i>e</i>,<i>T</i><i>b</i> with different doping concentrations of rare earth ions. The optical properties of the prepared Ce,Tb single-doped and co-doped samples were studied using photoluminescence and fluorescence lifetime measurements, and the intrinsic energy transfer processes were discussed. The <i>S</i><i>i</i><i>O</i>₂:<i>C</i><i>e</i>,<i>T</i><i>b</i> powder was then fabricated into a radiation dosimeter, and the radiation sensing performance for low dose gamma radiation was evaluated over a dose rate range of 605.04-1955.15 mGy/min. The response of the dosimeter exhibits good linearity. To verify the repeatability of the dosimeter, we re-irradiated the sample four times at a fixed dose rate of 1955.15 mGy/min, showing less than 3% relative standard deviation. Experimental results show that the dosimeter has good repeatability. These findings verify the reliable performance of the dosimeter, highlighting the potential of <i>S</i><i>i</i><i>O</i>₂:<i>C</i><i>e</i>,<i>T</i><i>b</i> for radiation dose monitoring applications.