Doped Lanthanum Hafnates as Scintillating Materials for High-Energy Photon Detection*

Recent years have seen the emergence of nanocrystalline complex oxide scintillators for use in X-ray and gamma-ray detection. In this study, we investigate the structural and optical properties of La$_{2}$Hf$_{2}$O$_{7}$ nanoparticles doped with varying levels of Eu$^{3+}$ or Ce$^{3+}$ by use of X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and optical photoluminescence. In addition, scintillation response under X-ray and gamma-ray exposure is reported.