Growth of large-sized Ce:Y3Al5O12 (Ce:YAG) scintillation crystal by the temperature gradient technique (TGT)

In this work, Ce:YAG crystal with the size of ϕ4 in was successfully grown by the TGT method. The optical and scintillation properties of as-grown Ce:YAG crystals were investigated. Three obvious absorption bands at 223, 340 and 460 nm and two weak color-center absorption bands at 296 and 370 nm are observed in as-grown Ce:YAG crystal. Fluorescence with an emission peak at 398 nm is observed due to the color centers, and absorption bands of the color centers can be eliminated by annealing in O2 or H2 atmosphere at 1673 K for 24 h. Yellow-green fluorescence centered at 530 nm is found when the crystal was excited at 460 nm and the 530 nm excitation spectrum shows two peaks at 340 and 460 nm. X-ray fluorescence spectrum of as-grown crystal shows three emission peaks at 300, 360 and 530 nm. An average light output of 1360 phe/MeV and a single exponential decay with the decay time constant of 62.97 ns are found in as-grown Ce:YAG crystal.