Growth and scintillation properties of Tm3+ doped Bi4Si3O12 single crystals

Doping with Tm3+ of 0.5mol%, 1.0mol%, 2.0mol% in the Bi4Si3O12 (BSO) crystals were grown by the modified vertical Bridgman method, respectively. The Bi4Si3O12:Tm(BSO:Tm) polycrystalline powders are prepared of using two step sintering method, namely sintered 12h at 800 degrees C, cool to room temperature, after grinded, then sintered 8 similar to 12h at 850 degrees C, used for crystal growth. The transmittance of Bi4Si3O12:Tm(BSO:Tm) crystals is about 80% and the optical quality of the crystal is same as the pure BSO crystal. The scintillation properties of BSO:Tm crystals are tested and analyzed. Pulse height measurements under gamma-ray irradiation show that doping with 0.5 mol% Tm2O3 can increase the relative light yield of BSO from 5.0% to 5.2% of the CsI(TI) crystal, consequently improving the ability to distinguish between particles. These results indicate that BSO:Tm crystals could be a promising candidate in some applications, such as electromagnetic and dual-readout calorimeters in nuclear or high energy physics.