Czochralski growth of Gd3(Al5−xGax)O12 (GAGG) single crystals and their scintillation properties

Ce:Gd3(AlxGa1−x)5O12 (x=2.5/5 and 3/5, Ce:GAGG-2.5 and Ce:GAGG-3) crystals were grown by the Czochralski process in order to reduce cost of the starting materials as compared with conventional Ce:Gd3Al2Ga3O12 (Ce:GAGG-2) crystal which have high light output. Although perovskite phase was detected in Ce:GAGG-3, Ce:GAGG-2.5 had single-phase garnet structure. Solidification fraction for the Ce:GAGG-2.5 growth was 0.52. Optical properties including transmittance, emission, and excitation spectra of 30 samples cut from the Ce:GAGG-2.5 bulk ingot did not depend on their original position along the growth axis. These samples had light outputs of approximately 58,000±3000 photons/MeV. However, scintillation decay times varied from 140 to 200 ns and depended on the position clearly.