Crystal growth and scintillation properties of CeF3

A few years ago Cerium fluoride (CeF3) has been identified as a potentially interesting scintillator for high energy physics. During the last years this material has been intensively studied and it appears now as a very good candidate for high resolution electromagnetic calorimeters. Indeed CeF3 exhibits a high density (6.16 g/cm3), small radiation length (1.68 cm) and Moliere radius (2.6 cm) and a fast luminescence with decay times lower than 30 ns and no slow components. Moreover it appeared to be highly resistant to ionizing radiations. CeF3 single crystals are generally grown using the Bridgman-Stockbarger technique under fluorine atmosphere. Some scavengers, i.e. PbF2, can also be added to the melt to avoid oxygen incorporation. The optical and scintillation properties of large CeF3 single crystals are reported in this paper. Their radiation hardness has also been studied