Eu-doped (Y_0.85-xLa_0.15)₂O₃ sesquioxide transparent ceramics for high-spatial-resolution X-ray imaging

X-ray imaging has attracted considerable attention in the fields of environmental monitoring, industrial radiation detection, and biological health, and the key to X-ray imaging lies in the performance of scintillators. However, current single-crystal scintillators suffer from high cost, low doping concentration, and inhomogeneous distribution. Here, we report a (Y0.85-xLa0.15)(2)O-3:xEu transparent ceramic scintillator prepared by vacuum sintering with uniform composition distribution and a transmittance of over 80.1% in the wavelength range of 632-1822 nm. The radioluminescence intensity of (Y0.79La0.15)(2)O-3:6.0% Eu (lambda = 611 nm) is 6.7 times higher than that of Bi4Ge3O12 (lambda = 473 nm) and shows excellent radiation stability and fatigue resistance. In addition, the detection limit (129.8 nGy s(-1)) is lower than that required for X-ray diagnostics (5.5 mu Gy s(-1)). The prepared (Y0.85-xLa0.15)(2)O-3:xEu transparent X-ray imaging demonstrates a high spatial resolution of 18.0 lp mm(-1). Therefore, (Y0.85-xLa0.15)(2)O-3:xEu transparent ceramics have the potential to be used for high-spatial-resolution X-ray imaging.