Cadmium tungstate ceramics for application as scintillator

Abstract

The aim of the present work is the production of cadmium tungstate scintillator ceramics (CdWO4 –CWO). The route of production employed was the solid state synthesis. Before the calcinations, theprecursors cadmium oxide and tungsten oxide were homogenized in an agate mortar. Bismuth oxide wasused in the production of doped ceramics with 1% in mol of bismuth, in order to improve de efficiency ofthe scintillators. Since there is a possibility of Cd2+ loss at temperatures above 1000 ºC, ceramics with 1%of cadmium oxide excess were also produced. The crystalline phase was obtained after two calcinations,according to X-Ray diffraction results. For the characterization, radioluminescence measurements wereperformed under β and X-radiation. Images of the surface of the sintered ceramic were registered byAtomic Force Microscopy. The density of ceramics bodies was calculated by the Archimedes´ method andcompared with the theoretical density (7.99 g/cm3).