Crystal growth and scintillation properties of Er-doped Lu3Al5O12 single crystals

Er-doped Lu3Al5O12 (Er:LuAG) single crystalline scintillators with different Er concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 3% were grown by the micro-pulling-down (μ-PD) method. The grown crystals were composed of single-phase material, as demonstrated by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The radioluminescence spectra measured under 241Am α-ray excitation indicated host emission at approximately 350 nm and Er3+ 4f–4f emissions. According to the pulse height spectra recorded under γ-ray irradiation, the 0.5% Er:LuAG exhibited the highest peak channel among the samples. The γ-ray excited decay time profiles were well fitted by the two-component exponential approximation (0.8 μs and 6–10 μs).