Scintillation characteristics of chemically processed Ce:GAGG single crystals

Chansun Park, Sangsu Kim, Alima Melis, Wonhi Lee, Abdallah Elmughrabi, Shinhaeng Cho, Jung Yeol Yeom

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We investigated the correlation between the surface finish and luminescence properties of chemically polished cerium-doped single-crystal Gd3Al2Ga3O12 scintillators (Ce:GAGG), from the crystallographic perspective. The intrinsic defects in the crystals were identified via photoluminescence spectroscopy followed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction to analyze their surface morphologies. Finally, the samples were individually wrapped with an enhanced specular reflector (ESR), coupled with a photomultiplier tube, placed inside a dark box, connected to a digitizer, and irradiated with a 137Cs radioactive source to evaluate the relative light (signal) output and energy resolution of each sample. The as-cut (rough) Ce:GAGG single-crystal samples, that were chemically polished with phosphoric acid at 190°C in air for 60 min, demonstrated a 33.1% increase in signal amplitude (light output to photosensor) and 2.4% (absolute value) improvement in energy resolution, which were comparable to those obtained for the mechanically polished sample. For these samples, the surface roughness was found to be ~430 nm, which was approximately half of that of the mechanically polished sample. The chemical polishing method used in this study is a cost-effective and straightforward technique to improve structural imperfections and can facilitate the treatment of inorganic scintillators with complex shapes and/or on a large scale.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0281262
JournalPloS one
Volume18
Issue number3 March
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023 Mar

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2020R1I1A1A01070761 to CP, and 2022R1I1A1A01065484 to SK), and Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korean government (MOTIE) (20214000000070 to JY, Promoting of Expert for Energy Industry Advancement in the Field of Radiation Technology).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Park et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Scintillation characteristics of chemically processed Ce:GAGG single crystals'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this