Effect of the sintering aids on optical and luminescence properties of Ce:YAG ceramics

Abstract

This reports on experimental results of a synthesis of Ce:YAG ceramics with a thickness of 2 and 8 mm and Ce3+ concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 2 at% and a study of their optical and scintillation characteristics with and without using of a SiO2 sintering aid. It is shown that using of the sintering aid (0.14 wt% SiO2) in this ceramics production method results in deterioration of optical and scintillation characteristics. An effect of Si4+ ions on luminescence properties of Ce:YAG ceramics is revealed. The maximum light output has been achieved in the ceramics without the sintering aid (21900 photon/MeV-0.5% Ce:YAG, h=8 mm) compared with ceramics synthesized by us previously (20800 photon/MeV-1% Ce:YAG, h=2 mm).