Growth, Emission and Scintillation Properties of Tb-Sc Doped LuAG Epitaxial Films

Epitaxial garnet films of Sc³⁺ and Tb³⁺ co-doped lutetium aluminum garnet (LuAG) were grown by the isothermal liquid phase epitaxy. Due to the Sc co-doping, an increase of Tb-related radioluminescence and photoluminescence intensities was observed. The photoluminescence of ⁵D₄(Tb³⁺) emission shows one exponential decay with τ ~ 3 ms. The decay time virtually does not depend on doping for examined concentrations of Tb and Sc ions up to 0.45 and 1.35 atoms per formula unit, respectively, and any concentration quenching was not observed in studied samples. The Sc co-doping represents an appropriate approach for improving emission properties of rare-earth doped aluminum garnets.