Assessment of the scintillation properties of MgGa2O4 and ZnGa2O4 single crystals

Abstract

We present the basic scintillation properties of MgGa2O4 and ZnGa2O4 crystals grown at Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung by the Czochralski and the Vertical Gradient Freeze methods, respectively. We prove that these two Ga-based spinels do scintillate under gamma irradiation, currently displaying scintillation yields up to about 2500 ph/MeV. We also show the scintillation time profiles and their anticorrelation with the scintillation yields (the lower the yield, the faster the scintillation decay). Finally, we indicate that radioluminescence of both MgGa2O4 and ZnGa2O4 is much more efficient at low temperatures, which suggests the presence of a strong thermal quenching decreasing their yield towards room temperature.