Ce:YAG transparent ceramics based on nanopowders produced by laser ablation method: Fabrication, optical and scintillation properties

Transparent Ce:YAG ceramics were fabricated by the solid-state reaction method with an additional round of pre-calcining using nanopowders of Ce$_{2x}$Y$_{2-2x}$O$_3$ (x = 0.001, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05) and Al$_2$O$_3$ synthesized by laser ablation. Additional pre-calcining of the nanopowder mixture in air was used to partially transform the oxides into the YAG phase before sintering. The transmittance of the obtained 2-mm-thick Ce:YAG ceramics was over 81 % in the wavelength range of 500–900 nm. The average volumes of the scattering centers in the obtained ceramics were evaluated by direct count method to be 34, 74, 53, 50 ppm for 0.1, 1, 3 and 5 % Ce doping concentration, respectively. The absolute light yields, energy resolutions under 662 keV gamma ray, and decay curves of scintillations of the fabricated Ce:YAG samples were measured and compared to those of Ce:YAG and CsI:Tl single crystals.