Influence of gamma radiation on luminescence properties of Ce³⁺-doped silica materials

Trivalent cerium ions doped silica materials can be utilized as scintillator to detect ionizing radiation. At the same time, the damage induced by ionizing radiation can also influence the luminescence properties of Ce ³⁺ . In our research, we present the photoluminescence (PL) properties of Ce ³⁺ -doped silica materials prepared by sol-gel method after irradiation by ⁶⁰ Co gamma rays. The results show that PL emission band of Ce ³⁺ in silica matrix has not changed pronouncedly, but the luminescence intensity decreases after irradiated by the dose of 500 Gy, 1 kGy and 10 kGy, which is due to the absorption of defect centers induced by the radiation damage. This implies that the radiation damage should be considered in the application of Ce ³⁺ -doped silica material as the scintillator detector.