Luminescence and scintillation characteristics of heavily Pr3+ -doped PbWO4 single crystals

PbWO4 single crystals with praseodymium doping in a wide concentration range (0.1-5 at % in the melt) were grown by Czochralski method. Absorption, luminescence, and scintillation characteristics were measured at room temperature. Similar to other trivalent dopants, heavy Pr3+ doping on one hand suppresses intrinsic host scintillation. On the other hand though, in the scintillation decay it introduces components with characteristic decay times within 500-2000 ns based on Pr3+ 4f-4f emission lines in the green-red part of the spectra. We discuss the suitability of such material for dual scintillation/Cherenkov light detector.