YAG:Ce Scintillator Crystal

Yttrium Aluminium Garnet (Cerium) - YAG(Ce) Y3Al5O12:Ce - is a highly effective gamma-ray absorber as a result of its high density and high Z characteristics.

YAG(Ce) scintillator crystals have:

Reasonably fast with a decay time of 70ns
Emission peaking at 550nm is well matched with CCD detectors
Stable scintillating characteristics up to c.100 rad
Virtually no afterglow emissions
Non hygroscopic

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

Have a light emission, a 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.

Yttrium Aluminium Garnet (Cerium) - YAG(Ce) - scintillator crystals are useful in diverse applications such as:

X-ray counting
X-ray and electron imaging screens
Geological logging
Specialist applications in high energy, nuclear, space and medical physics

YAG(Ce) Scintillation Crystals - Optical Properties

Property	Units	Value
Wavelength (Max. Emission)	nm	550
Wavelength Range	nm	500 - 700
Decay Times	ns	70
Light Yield	photons/keV	35
Photoelectron Yield	% of NaI(Tl)	35
Afterglow	%	<0.005 @ 6ms
Radiation Length	cm	3.5
Optical Transmission	µm	TBA
Transmittance	%	TBA
Refractive Index		1.82 @ 550nm
Reflection Loss/Surface	%	TBA
Neutron Capture Cross-section	barns	TBA

YAG(Ce) Scintillation Crystals - Mechanical Properties

Property	Units	Value
Chemical Formula		Y3Al5O12:Ce
Density	g/cm³	4.55
Atomic Number (Effective)		74
Melting Point	ºK	1970
Thermal Expansion Coeff.	C⁻¹	8.5 x 10⁻⁶
Crystal Structure		Cubic
Hardness	Mho	8.5
Hygroscopic		No
Solubility	g/100gH₂0	N/A

Sizes

Property	Value
Diameters	80mm max.
Lengths	150 mm 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)