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 $\alpha$ -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 $\alpha$ - and $\gamma$ -rays ( $\alpha /\gamma$ ratio) was also determined. Faster scintillation decay time and lower slow-component content were obtained for LPE samples with respect to Gd 3 (Al 2.7 Ga 2.3 )O 12 :Ce-SC one.