31 research outputs found
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New Technologies for Standoff Assessment of Radiological Contamination
Technologies to rapidly quantify surface activity with minimal worker contact would dramatically decrease the radiation dose a radiation worker receives in assessment and cleanup operations, while obtaining a clear image of exactly where dispersed contamination is located. LLNL efforts in the development of the Photochromic Radiation Dosimeter and the Imaging Assessment System will be described. Initial use of these technologies in decontamination and decommissioning of contaminated facilities demonstrates several significant advantages over standard techniques such as survey meters and swipes
Red-Emitting Manganese-doped Aluminum Nitride Phosphor
We report high efficiency luminescence with a manganese-doped aluminum nitride red-emitting phosphor under 254 nm excitation, as well as its excellent lumen maintenance in fluorescent lamp conditions, making it a candidate replacement for the widely deployed europium-doped yttria red phosphor. Solid-state reaction of aluminum nitride powders with manganese metal at 1900 °C, 10 atm N2 in a reducing environment results in nitrogen deficiency, as revealed diffuse reflectance spectra. When these powders are subsequently annealed in flowing nitrogen at 1650 °C, higher nitrogen content is recovered, resulting in white powders. Silicon was added to samples as an oxygen getter to improve emission efficiency. NEXAFS spectra and DFT calculations indicate that the Mn dopant is divalent. From DFT calculations, the UV absorption band is proposed to be due to an aluminum vacancy coupled with oxygen impurity dopants, and Mn2+ is assumed to be closely associated with this site. In contrast with some previous reports, we find that the highest quantum efficiency with 254 nm excitation (Q.E. = 0.86 ± 0.14) is obtained in aluminum nitride with a low manganese doping level of 0.06 mol.%. The principal Mn2+ decay of 1.25 ms is assigned to non-interacting Mn sites, while additional components in the microsecond range appear with higher Mn doping, consistent with Mn clustering and resultant exchange coupling. Slower components are present in samples with low Mn doping, as well as strong afterglow, assigned to trapping on shallow traps followed by detrapping and subsequent trapping on Mn
Strontium and barium iodide high light yield scintillators
Europium-doped strontium and barium iodide are found to be readily growable by the Bridgman method and to produce high scintillation light yields
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Scintillators with potential to supersede lanthanum bromide
New scintillators for high-resolution gamma ray spectroscopy have been identified, grown and characterized. Our development efforts have focused on two classes of high light yield materials: Europium-doped alkaline earth halides and Cerium-doped garnets. Of the halide single crystals we have grown by the Bridgman method - SrI{sub 2}, CaI{sub 2}, SrBr{sub 2}, BaI{sub 2} and BaBr{sub 2} - SrI{sub 2} is the most promising. SrI{sub 2}(Eu) emits into the Eu{sup 2+} band, centered at 435 nm, with a decay time of 1.2 {micro}s and a light yield of up to 115,000 photons/MeV. It offers energy resolution better than 3% FWHM at 662 keV, and exhibits excellent light yield proportionality. Transparent ceramics fabrication allows production of Gadolinium- and Terbium-based garnets which are not growable by melt techniques due to phase instabilities. While scintillation light yields of Cerium-doped ceramic garnets are high, light yield non-proportionality and slow decay components appear to limit their prospects for high energy resolution. We are developing an understanding of the mechanisms underlying energy dependent scintillation light yield non-proportionality and how it affects energy resolution. We have also identified aspects of optical design that can be optimized to enhance energy resolution
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Strontium and barium iodide high light yield scintillators
Europium-doped strontium and barium iodide are found to be readily growable by the Bridgman method and to produce high scintillation light yields
Strontium and barium iodide high light yield scintillators
Europium-doped strontium and barium iodide are found to be readily growable by the Bridgman method and to produce high scintillation light yields