Characterization of High‐Gadolinium Y _0.6 Gd _1.34 Eu _0.06 O ₃ Powder and Fabrication of Transparent Ceramic Scintillator Using Pressureless Sintering

Comparatively high gadolinium contents are of primary importance for (Y,Gd) ₂ O ₃ :Eu scintillators because of expected higher scintillation intensity and higher light output of the materials. Transparent Y _0.6 Gd _1.34 Eu _0.06 O ₃ ceramic, with a high gadolinium composition of ∼67 mol%, has been fabricated via vacuum sintering using synthesized sinterable powders. The precursor powder was coprecipitated with ammonium hydrogen carbonate as the precipitant and the powder calcined at 1100°C showed the best sintering activity. Transparent Y _0.6 Gd _1.34 Eu _0.06 O ₃ ceramic, exhibiting an in‐line transmittance of 66.7% at 610 nm, was obtained by vacuum sintering at 1670°C for 2 h. Under X‐ray excitation, the ceramic exhibited characteristic emissions of the Eu ³⁺ ions.