High Performance Y1–xTbxTaO₄ Single-Crystal Scintillators for X-ray Detection

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In pursuit of a single-crystal scintillator that is free from toxic elements and has scintillation properties comparable to commercial CdWO 4 in terms of light yield, afterglow, and stopping power, transparent and colorless Y 1– x Tb x TaO 4 mixed single crystals are grown by the floating-zone technique and investigated for the first time as scintillators. With the substitution of Y 3+ by Tb 3+, the intrinsic UV photoluminescence from YTaO 4, stemming from the Ta–O complex, gradually decreases until only the intraionic Tb 3+ emissions remain for a Tb concentration below 5%. The optimum scintillation performance is found for 15% Tb concentration: the light yield is ∼1.5 times that of CdWO 4, while the density, the stopping power, and the afterglow are comparable. For concentrations above 15% Tb 3+, the quadrupole–quadrupole interaction is found to be responsible for the concentration quenching. These results demonstrate the potential of Y 0.85 Tb 0.15 TaO 4 single crystals as an environmentally friendly alternative to CdWO 4 ones for high-energy X-ray radiography.