Lanthanum(III) bromide

Lanthanum(III) bromide (LaBr3) is an inorganic halide salt of lanthanum. When

pure, it is a colorless white powder. The single crystals of LaBr3 are hexagonal crystals
with melting point of 783 °C. It is highly hygroscopic and water-soluble. There are
several hydrates, La3Br·x H2O, of the salt also known. It is often used as a source of
lanthanum in chemical synthesis and as a scintillation material in certain applications.

Lanthanum(III) bromide

Names

IUPAC names

Lanthanum(III) bromide
Lanthanum tribromide

Identifiers

CAS Number ▪ 13536-79-3

3D model (JSmol) ▪ Interactive image

ChemSpider ▪ 75393

ECHA InfoCard 100.033.527

EC Number ▪ 36-896-7
PubChem CID ▪ 83563

CompTox ▪ DTXSID9065526
Dashboard (EPA)

InChI

SMILES

Properties
Chemical formula LaBr3

Molar mass 378.62 g/mol (anhydrous)

Appearance white solid, hygroscopic

Density 5.06 g/cm3, solid

Melting point 783 °C (1,441 °F; 1,056 K)

Boiling point 1,577 °C (2,871 °F;

1,850 K)
Solubility in water Very soluble

Structure
Crystal structure hexagonal (UCl3 type), hP8
Space group P63/m, No. 176
Coordination Tricapped trigonal
geometry
prismatic
(nine-coordinate)

Hazards
EU classification not listed
(DSD) (outdated)

Flash point not flammable

Related compounds
Other anions Lanthanum(III) fluoride
Lanthanum(III) chloride
Lanthanum(III) iodide
 Other cations Cerium(III) bromide
Praseodymium(III) bromide
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for
materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F],
100 kPa).

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Infobox references

Lanthanum bromide scintillation detector

The scintillator material cerium activated lanthanum bromide (LaBr3:Ce) was first
produced in 2001. LaBr3:Ce-based radiation detectors offer improved energy
resolution, fast emission and excellent temperature and linearity characteristics.
Typical energy resolution at 662 keV is 3% as compared to sodium iodide detectors at
7%. The improved resolution is due to a photoelectron yield that is 160% greater than
is achieved with sodium iodide. Another advantage of LaBr3:Ce is the nearly flat photo
emission over a 70 °C temperature range (~1% change in light output).
Today LaBr3 detectors are offered with bialkali photomultiplier tubes (PMT) that can
be two inches in diameter and 10 or more inches long . However, miniature packaging
can be obtained by the use of a silicon drift detector (SDD) or a Silicon Photomultiplier
(SiPM). These UV enhanced diodes provide excellent wavelength matching to the
380 nm emission of LaBr3. The SDD is not as sensitive to temperature and bias drift as
PMT. The reported spectroscopy performance of the SDD configuration resulted in a
2.8% energy resolution at 662 keV for the detector sizes considered.
LaBr3 introduces an enhanced set of capabilities to a range of gamma spectroscopy
radioisotope detection and identification systems used in the homeland security
market. Isotope identification utilizes several techniques (known as algorithms)
which rely on the detector's ability to discriminate peaks. The improvements in
resolution allow more accurate peak discrimination in ranges where isotopes often
have many overlapping peaks. This leads to better isotope classification. Screening of
all types (pedestrians, cargo, conveyor belts, shipping containers, vehicles, etc.) often
requires accurate isotopic identification to differentiate concerning materials from
non-concerning materials (medical isotopes in patients, naturally occurring
radioactive materials, etc.) Heavy R&D and deployment of instruments utilizing
LaBr3 is expected in the upcoming years.
References
1. Van Loef, E. V. D; Dorenbos, P; Van Eijk, C. W. E; Krämer, K; Güdel, H. U (2001). "High-
energy-resolution scintillator: Ce3+ activated LaBr3". Applied Physics Letters. 79 (10):
1573–1575. doi:10.1063/1.1385342.
2. Knoll, Glenn F., Radiation Detection and Measurement 3rd ed. (Wiley, New York, 2000).
3. A. Dawood Butt et al., "Comparison of SiPM and SDD based readouts of 1″ LaBr3:Ce
scintillator for nuclear physics applications," 2015 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium
and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC), San Diego, CA, 2015, pp. 1-4. doi:
10.1109/NSSMIC.2015.7581734