Nanocrystalline Eu-doped Lu3Al5O12 phosphor prepared by radiation method

•The Eu-doped Lu3Al5O12 nano-phosphor was prepared by radiation method.•The mean value of crystallite size is 44 nm with narrow size distribution.•The Eu3+ 4f–4f emission decay times increased compared to bulk material.•Low filling factor evidences well separated nano-grains.

Using radiation method, a set of Eu doped LuAG nanopowders was prepared with Eu concentrations varying from 0.1 to 10 at.%. We studied the concentration dependence of Eu3+ emission spectra and decays from the 5D0 level in the red part of the spectra. Photoluminescence measurements were complemented with radioluminescence spectra to investigate the scintillation efficiency of the samples. The results were compared with the earlier published characteristics of Eu-doped LuAG phosphors prepared by other methods. Furthermore, based on obtained results we determined an optimum europium concentration for LuAG based X-ray phosphor.