Energy levels of exciton traps in yttrium aluminum garnet single crystals

Electronic defects and exciton traps were studied in yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) single crystals by wavelength and temperature resolved thermoluminescence (TL). Measurements were carried out from room temperature to 400 degrees C on a number of rare earth (RE) doped and undoped YAG crystals, and the trap parameters were determined. Although the TL emission spectrum is characteristic of the RE ion, the main trap levels are found to be characteristic of the undoped host crystal. Nevertheless, the thermal activation energies of the traps are slightly modified by doping. The trap kinetics are found to be of the first order in both undoped and Ce doped YAG single crystals indicating the absence of retrapping, which suggests that the traps and recombination centers exhibit a close spatial correlation. The effect of annealing on TL response suggests that some of the major traps are associated with oxygen vacancies. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3693581]