Impact of Carbon Co-Doping on the Optical and Scintillation Properties of a YAG:Ce Scintillator
O. Sidletskiy, Iaroslav Gerasymov, Yanina Boyaryntseva, P. Arhipov, S. Tkachenko, О. V. Zelenskaya, Kateryna Bryleva, Кonstantin Belikov, Kheirreddine Lebbou, Christophe Dujardin, B. Büchner, Borys Grynyov
Abstract
This paper addresses the carbon co-doping of Ce-doped garnets, an efficient scintillation material and white light phosphor. The composition and the optical and scintillation properties of carbon-co-doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG) are studied at different cerium and carbon concentrations. YAG:Ce,C crystals were grown in the Ar + CO atmosphere from W crucibles. The carbon concentration reaches 0.5 atom %, but it does not affect the Ce distribution coefficient. The appearance and elimination of color centers are discussed in comparison to Ce-free YAG:C crystals. The tuning of cerium and carbon concentrations provides a light yield enhancement of up to 29 600 phot/MeV. The achieved enhancement may extend the application range of garnet-type phosphors and scintillators.