Fast and high-yield Pr:YAG crystal-derived silicate scintillation fiber for real-time X-ray detection

A Pr:YAG crystal-derived scintillation fiber (PCSF) with fast decay time and high optical yield was prepared using the melt-in-tube method. The PCSF consists of a SiO₂ cladding and a core of yttrium aluminosilicate glass with 1.8 wt%. Pr₂O₃. The PCSF exhibits excellent compatibility with commercial quartz fibers, achieving a low average insertion loss of 0.015 dB. Due to the fast 5d-4f transition of Pr³⁺, the PCSF shows a fast decay time of 11.6 ns at 359 nm. As an X-ray dosimeter, the PCSF exhibits high stability in its radioluminescence (RL) intensity and maintains a strong linear response under X-ray excitation. Compared to conventional silicate fibers, the PCSF has a higher effective atomic number (Z_eff) and mass attenuation coefficient, enabling more efficient X-ray absorption. Furthermore, a flexible fiber radiation detector based on PCSF was demonstrated, enabling low-dose-rate X-ray detection in the range of 1.13 to 30.74 μGy/s with excellent linear response (R²=0.999). Additionally, the PCSFs-based detector can distinguish X-rays of varying energies within the voltage range of 40-120 kV. These features make the proposed PCSF highly promising for real-time, fast-event X-ray detection in low-dose-rate applications.