Microstructure, optical, and scintillation characteristics of Pr3+ doped Lu3Al5O12 optical ceramics

0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 at. % Pr3+ doped Lu3Al5O12 (Pr:LuAG) optical ceramics are fabricated and compared with Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) and Pr: LuAG single crystals as for their optical, luminescence and scintillation properties. Radio-luminescence intensity of the fast UV emission based on 5d1 -> 4f Pr3+ transition reaches up to 20 times of that of BGO single crystal reference scintillator. Photoelectron yield of the best performing 0.5 at. % Pr:LuAG ceramic sample is about 1002 phels/MeV, about 30% lower than that of BGO reference sample and about 65% lower than that of Pr:LuAG single crystal. The trapping phenomena at grain boundaries and/or structural defects are proposed as the main cause of degradation of the scintillation response of the Pr:LuAG optical ceramics. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3530679]