Cerium-bound excitons and fluorescence quenching effects in cerium doped LaLuO3 single crystals

A new cerium-doped crystal has been grown and its fluorescence properties h ave been investigated through laser and synchrotron spectroscopies, While t he crystal exhibits an efficient blue fluorescence when excited in the near UV absorption bands, its fluorescence is strongly quenched when excited in the Fundamental absorption region. This phenomenon is interpreted by a mod el involving the formation of cerium-bound excitons, their lowest excited s tate lying closely in energy from the emitting state of Ce3+. The role play ed by the 4f level of lutetium in the scintillation efficiency of cerium-do ped lutetium-based oxide crystals is discussed through the comparison of bo th systems LaLuO3:Ce and LuAlO3:Ce.