Structural and Scintillation Properties of Ce(3+):Gd(3)Al(3)Ga(2)O(12) Translucent Ceramics Prepared by One-Step Sintering

Cerium-doped gadolinium aluminum gallium garnet (Ce(3+):Gd(3)Al(3)Ga(2)O(12), Ce(3+):GAGG) ceramic is a promising scintillation material. In this study, Ce(3+):Gd(3)Al(3)Ga(2)O(12) scintillation ceramics were prepared by the one-step sintering of commercially available Gd(2)O(3), Al(2)O(3), Ga(2)O(3), and CeO(2) powders in a flowing oxygen atmosphere at 1600 °C by solid-phase reaction sintering. For all the Ce(3+):Gd(3)Al(3)Ga(2)O(12) ceramic samples doped with different amounts of Ce(3+) doping, dense ceramics were obtained. The structure, photoluminescence, and scintillation properties of the Ce(3+):Gd(3)Al(3)Ga(2)O(12) ceramics have been investigated. The average grain size of samples sintered at 1600 °C is about 2 μm. The X-ray excitation luminescence peak is around 560 nm, which is consistent with that of Ce(3+):Gd(3)Al(3)Ga(2)O(12) single crystals, matching well with the computed tomography X-ray detector’s response sensitivity. The light yield is higher compared to the standard reference sample—lutetium yttrium orthosilicate single crystal.