YBa₃B₉O₁₈:  A Promising Scintillation Crystal

Single crystals of the newly discovered borate YBa₃B₉O₁₈ with dimensions up to 13 × 8 × 4 mm³ were successfully grown by the Czochralski pulling method. X-ray excited luminescence measurements of the YBa₃B₉O₁₈ showed a broad emission band in the wavelength range from 350 to 500 nm with a peak center at 400 nm. The light yield is about 6−7 times larger than that of PbWO₄ measured at nearly the same conditions. The results show that borate can also exhibit attracting scintillation properties. A narrow temperature range for growth and drastic anisotropy of the growth rates are the main difficulties in growing large crystals. The crystal growth and properties of denser isostructural REBa₃B₉O₁₈ series (RE = Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb) deserve further investigation.