Multiple thermoluminescence glow peaks and afterglow suppression in CsI:Tl co-doped with Eu or Yb

CsI:Tl is a widely utilized scintillator material with many desirable properties but its applicability is limited by persistent afterglow. However, effective afterglow suppression has been achieved by co-doping with divalent lanthanides. The present report is concerned with observation of multiple thermoluminescence glow peaks in CsI:Tl,Eu and CsI:Tl,Yb, attributed to varying distributions of charge-compensating cation vacancies relative to divalent lanthanide co-dopants, and the subsequent modification of these distributions by repeated observations. It is observed that Yb provides a slightly shallower electron trap than Eu, and that it can occupy a face-centered position by virtue of its relatively small ionic radius; the latter observation is confirmed by electrostatic calculations. It is also found that repeated observation of thermoluminescence in these materials has a modest adverse effect on afterglow suppression.