Radiation Damage Studies of Cerium-Doped Radiation-Resistant Lead Glass Detectors

Optical absorption measurements have been made on unirradiated and irradiated samples of cerium oxide doped lead silicate particle detector glasses. The addition of CeO2 introduces one prominent and one weak absorption band near the ultraviolet transmission limit. However the CeO2 greatly reduces the rate of formation of the radiation induced absorption. Detector size blocks of lead glass with 0.0, 0.25, and 1.2 weight percent CeO2 were used to determine the energy resolution for 5 GeV electrons. The resolution deteriorates from 12 to 33% as the CeO2 changes from 0.0 to 1.2%. At these CeO2 levels, calculations indicate the yield of doped glass becomes superior to that of undoped glass for doses greater than 500 rad.