(Gd,Ce)2O3-Al2O3-SiO2 scintillation glass

• New scintillation glass in Gd 2 O 3 -Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 system, Ce 3+ -doped, was made. • Plurality of Ce 3+ surroundings was proposed from photoluminescence measurements. • Increase of Ce 3+ content shorten scintillation kinetics and keeps high light yield. • Scintillation average decay time of 60 ns and yield of ∼2000 phot./MeV were achieved. Heavy scintillation glass of Gd 2 O 3 -Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 composition doped with Ce, combining high light yield and fast scintillation kinetics, was developed. The glass samples were prepared at 1500 °C by a melt-quench technique; the resulting glass was colorless and satisfactorily homogeneous. A photoluminescence study showed that a variety of sites for the Ce 3+ ion stabilization exists in the glass, but the phenomenon was found less pronounced compared to BaO-Gd 2 O 3 -SiO 2 glass. The glass has demonstrated ∼4 times faster scintillation kinetics and a minor drop of the light yield related to barium-gadolinium-silica glass, which makes this material of particular interest for large volume detectors in high energy physics, medical imaging, and other applications due to a low-cost production capability.