Optical and scintillation properties of Ce:Y3Al5O12 single crystal fibers grown by laser heated pedestal growth method*

The single crystal scintillating optical fibers acting as the scintillators and light conductors show potential application in scintillating fiber array detectors with high spatial resolution. In this paper we report the growth of 0.2 at% Ce:Y3Al5O12 single crystal fiber. The crystalline phase, surface morphology of the axialsection and cross-section, optical and scintillation properties of the as-grown fiber were investigated. The Ce:Y3Al5O12 single crystal fiber has a pure YAG phase, a uniform distribution of cerium in the axialsection and cross-section surface. Emission spectrum is composed of broad bands ranging from 440 to 700 nm. In addition, the single crystal fiber has a high light yield of 26115 +/- 2000 photons/MeV, low energy resolution of 9.44% @662 keV and decay time of a fast component of 78 ns and a slow component of 301 ns. The intensity ratio of fast to slow components is roughly 8:1. (c) 2021 Chinese Society of Rare Earths. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This paper reports the growth and characterization of Ce:Y3Al5O12 single crystal fiber, which shows excellent light yield, energy resolution, and suitable for high spatial resolution scintillating fiber array detectors.