METHOD FOR PRODUCING CRYSTALLINE SCINTILLATOR BASED ON SELF-ACTIVATED RARE EARTH HALIDE Russian patent published in 2021 - IPC C30B11/00 C30B11/14 C30B28/06 C30B29/12 C30B35/00 C09K11/85 G01T1/202 

FIELD: crystal growth.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the technology of growing scintillation single crystals based on cerium bromide with the general formula CeBr₃ with a 100% content of scintillating ion Ce³⁺ by horizontal directional crystallization (HDC) and can be used in the manufacture of detector elements and spectrometers sensitive to gamma, X-ray radiation and other types of ionizing radiation. A method for producing a crystalline scintillator based on self-activated rare earth halide CeBr₃ involves melting the initial charge and growing crystals in quartz ampoules or in a graphite boat in HDC installation by moving them through the heating zone, while ampoules with installed CeBr₃ crystal priming inside a pumped glove box are loaded with anhydrous crystals of the starting material with a purity of 99.99%, heated to a temperature of more than 100°C for 2 hours, pumped out up to 10^-3 mm Hg and they are sealed with an oxygen-propane burner, then the ampoules are installed in a growth unit, after creating a vacuum in the unit up to 10^-3 mm Hg they are heated until the charge melts, kept in a growth unit for 2-4 hours until an equilibrium state is established in the melt, a single crystal is grown by creating a gradient temperature section in the ampoule with horizontal stretching from the heating zone to the cooling zone at a speed of 5 mm/h, after which the ampoule is slowly cooled to room temperature to anneal the grown crystal, and when grown in a graphite boat, the starting material with CeBr₃ seed is installed in a growth unit, which is then evacuated to 10^-3 mm Hg, dried at a temperature of 200°C for 24 hours, after that, inert gas Ar and Br are injected in a mixture with the addition of brominating agent tetrabromomethane CBr₄ and dehydrogenating agent cadmium bromide CdBr₂ to an excess pressure of 1.06 atm, the charge is melted at a temperature of 732°C, the temperature is raised by 50°C and the crystal growing process is carried out by the method for horizontal directional crystallization at a horizontal boat pulling speed of 5 mm/h, after the crystallization process is completed, the grown crystal is annealed at a slow temperature decrease of ~ 10-15°/h.

EFFECT: production of materials of CeBr₃ stoichiometric composition with a purity of 99.99% in the form of single-crystal samples or polycrystals.

1 cl, 2 dwg, 3 ex