Mechanochemically prepared SrFCl nanophosphor co-doped with Yb³⁺ and Er³⁺ for detecting ionizing radiation by upconversion luminescence

We report a novel method for detecting ionizing radiation by employing the phenomenon of upconversion luminescence. Nanocrystalline SrFCl:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ was prepared by ball-milling and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photoluminescence properties of nanocrystalline SrFCl:Yb³⁺, SrFCl:Er³⁺ and SrFCl:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ before and after X-irradiation were investigated. The results demonstrate that both Yb³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions in the SrFCl host are reduced to their divalent state upon X-ray exposure. Under 980 nm infrared excitation, SrFCl:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ nanocrystals displayed efficient upconversion luminescence. The upconversion luminescence intensity gradually decreased with increasing X-irradiation in a double exponential fashion with rate constants of k₁ = 0.08 Gy⁻¹ and k₂ = 0.01 Gy⁻¹. In comparison with other X-ray storage phosphors, the present system shows a much higher stability of stored information since it is not subject to photobleaching in the read-out process. This is the first report on detecting ionizing radiation by upconversion luminescence, with the potential for improved read-out performance over traditional storage phosphors. Possible applications of the present phosphor include bioimaging and in vivo cell-level X-ray dose monitoring.