Luminescent and scintillation properties of composites based on sol-gel SiO$_2$ matrices and organic scintillators

Luminescent composites based on SiO$_2$ matrices synthesized using the sol-gel method and organic scintillators PPO and o-POPOP are produced, and their optical, luminescent, and scintillation characteristics are studied. It is shown that these composites generate an intense photoluminescence signal, possess a nanosecond decay time, and have a transparency in the range of 400–700 nm of no less than 70%. The absolute light output during excitation by $\alpha$ radiation with an energy of 5.46 MeV is 4400–5100 photon/MeV, and the amplitude resolution is 27–32%.