Lutetium aluminum garnet (LuAG) is one of the most commonly used phosphors in medical imaging and high energy physics. It has a wide emission spectrum of the 5d-4f transition of Ce3+ ions and can therefore satisfy the requirements of various photodetectors.

However, the performance of LuAG is limited by its intrinsic defects and atomic impurities. It is possible to reduce these problems by codoping. For example, boron has been shown to improve the light yield, decay time, and self-absorption of several types of garnet scintillators.

In this study, we have successfully prepared a series of Ce:LuAG SCFs by the low pressure high gradient (LHPG) method and systematically characterized their luminescence properties. The X-ray excitation and emission spectra of the SCFs are shown in Figure 3. Compared with bare LuAG, the absorption intensity increases as the Ce ion concentration increases. The emission intensity is also affected by the Ce ion concentration and the annealing temperature.

To obtain a high-performance scintillator, it is necessary to optimize the synthesis process and Ce ion concentration. Moreover, the influence of temperature on the luminescence of LuAG should be further investigated. The results suggest that the m-PD technique is a suitable method for growing a large number of small Ce:LuAG crystals with good performance. The high temperature stability of the crystals makes them suitable for long-term use in applications with demanding temperature ranges.