Fabrication, microstructure and properties of highly transparent Ce3+:Lu3Al5O12 scintillator ceramics

Ce3+:Lu3Al5O12 (Ce:LuAG) scintillator ceramics were fabricated using solid state reaction method. High transparency (similar to 80% at 550 nm) was obtained, the grain boundary was clean and no secondary phase was observed. After further optimized by an air-annealing process, Ce:LuAG ceramic shows a much higher steady state scintillation efficiency than that of BG0 single crystal under X-ray excitation, and the light yield (Cs-137, 662KeV) improved around double compared with that of the before one. The radiation hardness of Ce:LuAG ceramic was investigated under 60Co gamma radiation with dose of 2 x 10(5) Gy and a dose rate of about 1 x 10(4) Gy/h. The radiation induced absorption appears in similar to 380 nm and 610 nm (away from the emission band of Ce:LuAG) demonstrating its perspective for application in High Energy Physics. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.