LuAG(Ce) Scintillator Crystal

Lutetium Aluminium Garnet (LuAG(Ce) - Lu3Al5O12:Ce) scintillator crystals are relatively dense (6.73g/cm³), have a high Z (58.9) and have a fast decay time (70ns). With a peak emission of 535nm, LuAG(Ce) output is well matched to photodiodes avalanche photodiodes APDs and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). In addition these crystals have good temperature properties.

LuAG(Ce) scintillator crystals have:

Mechanically robust characteristics and are non-hygroscopic
Stable scintillating characteristics up to c.100 rad
Virtually no afterglow emissions
No cleavage planes, so can be easily machined into various shapes and geometries

LuAG(Ce) scintillator crystals have the following issues which should be noted. They:

Have a light emission which a is good part is above 500nm, a region where photomultipliers are less sensitive
Are intrinsically radioactive making it unacceptable for some applications
Are susceptible to radiation damage, starting with doses between 1 and 10 Gray (10⁸ - 10⁹ rad). Reversible with time or annealing.

LuAG(Ce) scintillator crystals are useful in diverse applications such as:

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Imaging screens
Specialist applications in high energy, nuclear, space and medical physics

LuAG(Ce) Scintillation Crystals - Optical Properties

Property	Units	Value
Wavelength (Max. Emission)	nm	535
Wavelength Range	nm	475 - 800
Decay Times	ns	70
Light Yield	photons/keV	25
Photoelectron Yield	% of NaI(Tl)	20
Radiation Length	cm	1.3
Optical Transmission	µm	TBA
Transmittance	%	TBA
Refractive Index		1.84 @633nm
Reflection Loss/Surface	%	TBA
Neutron Capture Cross-section	barns	TBA

LuAG(Ce) Scintillation Crystals - Mechanical Properties

Property	Units	Value
Chemical Formula		Lu3Al5O12:Ce
Density	g/cm³	6.3
Atomic Number (Effective)		58.9
Melting Point	ºC	2020
Thermal Expansion Coeff.	C⁻¹	8.8 x 10⁻⁶
Cleavage Plane		None
Hardness	Mho	8.5
Hygroscopic		No
Solubility	g/100gH₂0	N/A

Sizes

Property	Value
Diameters	80 mm max.
Lengths	150mm max.
Thin Sections - minimum thicknesses:	Free Standing: 0.2mm (Diameters <100mm), 0.1mm (Diameters <50mm) Ring - Edge Mounted: 0.05mm (Diameters <50mm), 0.02mm (Diameters <10mm) Substrate Mounted: 0.01mm (Diameters <40mm), 0.005mm (Diameters <30mm)