Gamma ray detection using sol-gel glass doped with lanthanide ions

In this work we discuss the synthesis, characterization and the use of rare earth doped silica glass prepared by the sol-gel technique as a gamma radiation detector. We obtain a glass material doped with rare earth ions in a high local symmetry, in contrast to the low symmetry found in glasses produced by conventional melting methods and technologies. The behavior of the luminescence spectra of the excited states of rare earth indicates a strong dependence with gamma radiation doses, where the magnetic dipole transition 5D0-->7F1 of the Eu3+ ions presents an huge enhancement of 900% for irradiation doses up to 400 Gy.