Scintillation Characteristics of GAGG:Ce Single-Crystalline Films Grown by Liquid Phase Epitaxy

The Gd
₃
(Al,Ga)
₅
O
₁₂
:Ce single-crystalline films were grown by a liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique from BaO-B
₂
O
₃
-BaF
₂
flux. The scintillation characteristics were investigated and compared to the bulk Gd
₃
(Al
_2.7
Ga
_2.3
)O
₁₂
:Ce single crystal (SC) grown by the Czochralski technique. The light yield (LY) and energy resolution were measured using an R6231 photomultiplier. At 5.5-MeV α-particles, the LY value of 7100 photons/MeV obtained for Gd
₃
Al
_2.62
Ga
_2.38
O
₁₂
:Ce-LPE sample is lower than that of 9310 photons/MeV for the Gd
₃
(Al
_2.7
Ga
_2.3
)O
₁₂
:Ce-SC sample, whereas an energy resolution of the LPE sample is better (5.9% versus 6.6%). The ratio of LY value under excitation with α- and γ-rays (α/γ ratio) was also determined. Faster scintillation decay time and lower slowcomponent content were obtained for LPE samples with respect to Gd
₃
(Al
_2.7
Ga
_2.3
)O
₁₂
:Ce-SC one.