Growth and scintillation properties of praseodymium doped (Lu,Gd)3(Ga,Al)5O12 single crystals

Pr doped (Lu,Gd)3(Ga,Al)5O12 single crystals were grown by the micro-pulling down (μ-PD) method. The crystals were greenish and transparent with 3.0 mm in diameter, 10-30 mm in length. Neither visible inclusions nor cracks were observed. Luminescence and scintillation properties were measured. The substitution at the Al3+ sites by Ga3+ in garnet structure has been studied. The Pr3+ 5d-4f emission is observed within 300-380 nm wavelength superposed with 312 nm emission line of Gd3+. Pr0.2%:Lu2.5Gd1Ga3Al2O12 shows highest emission intensity. The light yield of Pr0.2%:Lu2.5Gd0.5Ga2Al3O12 sample with diameter 3 mm×1 mm size was around 8000 ph/MeV. Two-exponential approximations of scintillation decay showed 39.6 ns (30.6%) and 151 ns (69.4%) decay times.