Luminescence and scintillation properties of YAG:Ce single crystal and optical ceramics

We use various techniques to study optical and scintillation properties of Ce-doped yttrium aluminum garnet, Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (YAG:Ce), in the form of a high-quality industrial single crystal. This was compared to optical ceramics prepared from YAG:Ce nanopowders. We present experimental data in the areas of optical absorption, radioluminescence, scintillation decay, photoelectron yield, thermally stimulated luminescence and radiation-induced absorption. The results point to an interesting feature—the absence of antisite (Y_Al, i.e. Y at the Al site) defects in optical ceramics. The scintillation decay of the ceramics is faster than that of the single crystal, but its photoelectron yield (measured with 1 μs integration time) is about 30-40% lower. Apart from the photoelectron yield value the YAG:Ce optical ceramic is fully comparable to a high quality industrial YAG:Ce single crystal and can become a competitive scintillator material.