X-ray/proton and photoluminescence behaviors of Sm³⁺ doped high-density tungsten gadolinium borate scintillating glass

Sm-activated scintillating glasses with high WO₃ concentration up to 42.5 mol% were studied in this work. The effects of Sm₂O₃ concentration on the density, absorption and various (photo-, X-ray induced-, proton- and temperature dependent-) luminescence properties have been monitored. The glasses possess a high density with maximum value around 6.18 g/cm³. The glass samples show the several absorption peaks of visible light and near-infrared wavelength those confirm the Sm³⁺ ion existence in glass matrices. The Gd³⁺→ Sm³⁺ energy transfer took place in glasses which resulted to the strongest emission around 600 nm (⁴G_5/2 → ⁶H_7/2) of Sm³⁺ in the photo-, X-ray induced- and proton luminescence spectra. The optimal doping concentration of Sm₂O₃ in WO₃-Gd₂O₃˗B₂O₃ glass is 1.0 mol% that performed the highest emission intensity in these three types of luminescence spectra. In 1.0 mol% doped glass, the decay time under pulse X-ray excitation was analyzed and found to be 0.27 ms. The temperature dependent luminescence in a range of 10 K–300 K of 1.0 mol% doped glass was measured via UV-laser excitation. The emission intensity of glass increased 3.76 times with the temperature decrease. In this work, the fabricated WO₃-Gd₂O₃˗B₂O₃ glasses doped with Sm₂O₃ show the strong visible luminescence under visible light, X-ray and proton excitation. The developed glass performs the potential for X-ray scintillator applications with integration mode using in the medical, industrial and security imaging inspection system.