Potentiality of Ceramic Scintillators: General Considerations and YAG-Yb Optical Ceramics Performance

Excellent properties of optical ceramics initially developed as laser materials make them attractive for scintillator applications. The effects of the porosity of ceramics on their luminescence properties is analyzed using a simplified model to account for scattering. The results of the study of optical and luminescence properties of a concentration series of YAG:Yb ceramics fabricated by vacuum sintering and nanocrystalline technology (VSN method) in a wide UV and VUV and X-rays excitation energy range are presented. The results are compared to those obtained for Yb-doped single crystals and undoped YAG ceramics and single crystals.