Application
Lutetium iodide crystals doped with rare-earth ions are materials with excellent scintillation properties. Because lutetium ions have comparable ionic radii and the same valence states as rare-earth ions, they can be doped with a large amount of various rare-earth ions. For example, cerium ion-doped lutetium iodide crystals exhibit high light output, fast decay, good energy resolution, time resolution, and linear response, and have higher luminous efficiency than rare-earth ion-doped fluoride and oxide crystals, significantly improving the efficiency of scintillation detectors. Europium ion-doped and terbium ion-doped lutetium iodide crystals also have excellent scintillation properties and can be used in security inspection, scintillation fluorescent screens, and other fields.
Synthesis
Lutetium iodide can be obtained from lutetium metal and mercuric iodide by reacting with heat:
· 2 Lu + 3 HgI2 → 2 LuI3 + 3 Hg
· The monomeric mercury produced in the reaction can be removed by distillation.
· The lutetium iodide hydrate crystallized from the solution can be heated with ammonium iodide to obtain the anhydrous material.
