ABSTRACT
In scintillators, the high-energy particles (electrons, protons, neutrons, alpha particles) or photons (X-rays or gamma rays) can excite electrons in atoms, which then return to the ground state and this return is accompanied by emission of visible photons, which can be easily detected (measured) by standard detectors such as photomultipliers, CCD, etc. The de-excitation can be prompt (in nanosecond time scale) or delayed (miliseconds up to hours)—both types are used in practice. The single crystalline films with thickness of several micrometers can be used for high resolution electron, cathodoluminescent, or X-ray screens, in various applications for imaging of microscopic objects with submicron resolution. Such films can be grown by the
liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) from the flux. In this chapter the present status of epitaxial oxide films, particularly garnets, perovskites, and oxyorthosilicates, will be reviewed. We focus especially on the growth procedure, and their luminescent and scintillation properties in comparison with the properties of bulk single crystal.
