Utilization of YAP:Ce powder scintillator for 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy

Using a powder scintillator for a detection of gamma and X-rays allows to create detectors of various shapes, moreover the handling and fabrication of such scintillators is much easier than in the case of large or thin monocrystals. We report on the application of YAlO3:Ce powder to Mössbauer spectroscopy. The detection efficiency and the energy resolution of the scintillators made of powders of two different granularities (grain size ≤30μm and 50–70μm) were investigated. The powder scintillators exhibited a comparable energy resolution and detection efficiency as YAlO3:Ce monocrystal with thickness of 400μm. Burying the YAlO3:Ce grains into the epoxy resin increased the energy resolution of powder scintillators. The studied scintillators were found to be suitable for experiments in Mössbauer spectroscopy. The performance of YAP is also compared to the NaI:Tl scintillator.