Effect of Mg-, Zr-, and Ta-doping on scintillation properties of Gd/sub 2/SiO/sub 5/:Ce crystal

We developed Mg-, Zr-, and Ta-doped GSO:Ce scintillator materials to improve scintillation properties for medical imaging scanners such as a positron emission tomograph (PET). The crystals of (Mg, Zr or Ta)/sub y/ -doped Gd/sub 2-x/SiO/sub 5/:Ce/sub x/ (x=0.5, y=0.0002%/spl sim/0.031%) were grown. The scintillation decay curve, rise time, light output, and optical transmittance of these crystals were measured. Improvement of optical transparency was found for GSO:Ce, Zr.