Alkaline-earth halides can be made into bright scintillators if purity is maintained during synthesis and growth. In order to investigate precursor purity, beaded halide precursors were heated under vacuum and evolved gas was assessed by residual gas spectroscopy. These precursors included cesium chloride, lithium chloride, yttrium chloride, cerium chloride, strontium iodide, europium iodide, barium bromide, and europium bromide. Water and CO₂ desorption, sulfur release, argon release, and halide dissociation was observed in samples. Triply-oxidized precursors showed multiple paths to decomposition. The data inform approaches toward purification and growth.

Date Published: 26 September 2013
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8852, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XV, 88521P (26 September 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2034232

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8852:
Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XV
Michael Fiederle; Arnold Burger; Larry Franks; Ralph B. James, Editor(s)