Influence of the Uniaxial Hot-Pressing Sintering Condition on Bi4Ge3O12 Ceramic Scintillators

Abstract

The production of high-density bismuth germanate (Bi3Ge4O12) ceramic scintillators by uniaxial hot pressing was investigated as a function of different applied pressure conditions. The X-ray diffraction showed that the sintering process was able to eliminate the undesirable secondary phase present in the nonsintered samples. The height changes from samples with higher applied pressure rate and applied pressure duration lead to a better relative density value, >95% for samples sintered under a pressure of 0.14 and 0.18 MPa. The radioluminescence results showed that all samples have the characteristic emission spectra of Bi3Ge4O12 and that the hot-pressed samples have higher radioluminescence emission efficiency.