On the Role of Li⁺ Codoping in Simultaneous Improvement of Light Yield, Decay Time, and Afterglow of Lu₂SiO₅:Ce³⁺ Scintillation Detectors

Commercially available Lu₂SiO₅:Ce (LSO:Ce) scintillators for the nuclear medical imaging applications, such as positron electron tomography (PET), normally have a light yield of 30 000–32 000 photons/MeV and a scintillation decay time of 43–45 ns. We demonstrate a simultaneous improvement of light yield and decay time of LSO:Ce single crystal scintillators with lithium codoping. Li codoping significantly enhances the light yield of LSO:Ce from 32 500 to 39 000 photons/MeV, shortens the scintillation decay time from 45.4 to 42.1 ns, and reduces the room temperature afterglow by around one order of magnitude. The physical insights on the role of Li codopants in scintillation mechanism are provided by studying cerium oxidation state, luminescence properties of cerium activator centers, defect structure, and preferential occupation of lithium ions. The improved light yield and afterglow are explained in terms of the dissociation of spatially correlated oxygen vacancies (V_O) and Ce centers or the suppression of V_O formation, allowing a more efficient electron migration to Ce centers. We attribute the decay time shortening upon Li⁺ codoping to the reduction of slow Ce2 emissions via a non-radiative energy transfer from six-coordinated Ce2 to seven-coordinated Ce1 centers.