Tailoring of the Gd–Y–Lu ratio in quintuple (Gd, Lu, Y)3Al2Ga3O12:Ce ceramics for better scintillation properties

Abstract

Ceramics from cerium-doped quintuple garnet-type compounds (Gd,Y,Lu)3Al2Ga3O12:Ce with different contents of Y and Lu have been fabricated and studied as a prospective scintillating material enabling improvement of scintillation properties by tuning of the composition of the matrix-forming crystalline compound. The coprecipitation method was applied to produce powders of complex garnet compounds, which were subsequently compacted and sintered. The influence of the matrix composition on photoluminescence and scintillation of the ceramics is studied using luminescence spectroscopy at steady state and pulsed excitation. Partial substitution of Lu by Y ions was found to be an effective tool for tailoring of scintillation properties of the material. A light yield of the Gd2Y0.5Lu0.5Al2Ga3O12 composition was measured to be 41 000 ph/MeV, whereas a scintillation kinetics was measured to have dominant fast scintillation components: 14 ns (84%) and 78 ns (16%).