EFFICIENCY AND YIELD SPECTRA OF INORGANIC SCINTILLATES

Recent developments in the field of energy loss in inorganic scintilla tors are reviewed. The main parameters, which control the fundamental limit of the scintillator energy efficiency, are determined. It is sho wn that together with simple cascade processes one should take into ac count the production of plasmons to estimate the energy efficiency of scintillators or other phosphors excited by an ionizing radiation. Cor e-to-valence luminescence related to 5pCs --> 3pCl transitions is inve stigated in some chlorides: CsCl, KCl, RbCl, NaCl, KCaCl3, RbCaCl3. Th e yield spectra of the crystals in the VUV and X-ray regions are also studied. It is shown that the 4pRb-core states are involved in the pro cess of creation of holes in the 5pCs-core band in Rb-based crystals. The formation of holes in the potassium core band acts as a competing process and suppresses the radiative core-to-valence transitions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.