Luminescent properties of Y3Al5−xGaxO12:Ce crystals

Absorption, luminescent and scintillation properties of Ce3+ doped Y3Al5−xGaxO12 crystals with Ga content in the x=1-5 range were investigated in this work and compared with the properties of YAG:Ce crystals. Apart from the traditional spectral methods (absorption, cathodoluminescence and light yield measurements), the intrinsic and Ce3+ related luminescence of Y3Al5−xGaxO12:Ce solid-solution were also investigated using the luminescent spectroscopy under excitation by synchrotron radiation in the 3.7-25 eV range. We show that the optical properties Y3Al5−xGaxO12:Ce garnets monotonically change with increasing the Ga content in the x=0-3 range due to preferable localization of Ga ions in the tetrahedral position of the garnet lattice. At the highest Ga concentration (x>3) the deviation of the optical properties of Y3Al5−xGaxO12:Ce garnets is observed from the respective properties of these crystals with Ga content in the x=0-3 range due to occupation by Ga ions of the octahedral position in the garnet host.