Thermoluminescence properties of carbon doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG) crystal

Abstract

In this work, carbon doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) (YAG:C) crystal was grown by the temperature gradient technique in a reducing atmosphere. The optical and thermoluminescence (TL) properties of the as-grown YAG:C crystal were investigated. Four absorption bands at 235, 255, 298, and 370 nm and a main blue emission peak at 400 nm are observed in the YAG:C crystal. The absorption coefficients of the bands at 235 and 370 nm, which are associated with the F+-center, increase sharply in YAG crystal by the introduction of carbon. As-grown YAG:C crystal shows high TL sensitivity, and three main glow peaks at 390 K (P1), 465 K (P2), 524 K (P3) and two weak glow peaks at 580 and 625 K are found. The TL dose responses of the three main glow peaks show linear-supralinear characteristic, and wide linearity dose response are found in P1 and P2 glow peaks. The temperature position and TL intensity of three main glow peaks show a strong dependence of heating rate in YAG:C crystal.