Electron diffraction study of various lattice defects in a Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ crystal

Abstract

Lattice defects in a scintillation detector made of Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ (BGO) could severely impact detector efficiency via non-radiative transfer of electron excitation, thus making thorough investigations of these defects highly important. Here we present a combined experimental and theoretical study of two- and three-dimensional defects in a Czochralski-grown BGO crystal. Upon examination by transmission electron microscopy the selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns in two neighboring parts of the specimen reveal different kinds of two- and three-dimensional defects. Three sub-grains misoriented at 2.47° with reference to each other and probable presence of stacking faults lying in {011} planes were observed in the first examined local area. The SAED image taken from an area in the close neighborhood is much more complicated and is explained in terms of the superposition of reflections from: (i) a partially textured GeO₂ second-phase inclusion; (ii) the basic lattice of BGO and (iii) a superlattice-like structure based on the BGO lattice. The atomic structure of such a superlattice-like structure was theoretically modeled and the corresponding simulated SAED patterns were found to be in good agreement with the experimentally observed one.