Solid-state reaction method to ⁶ Li, Ce:YAG ceramics for thermal neutron detection

The crystal structures and optical properties of 5% 6Li:Ce0.09Y2.91Al5O12 transparent ceramics prepared by solid-state reaction with different vacuum sintering temperature were investigated in this paper. The results reveal that with the increasing of sintering temperature, the transmittance of 6Li,Ce:YAG ceramics increases from 36% (1680°C) to 82% (1780°C) at 1000 nm, and the intensity of absorption peaks at 340 and 460 nm increases. The emission peak wavelengths of 6Li:Ce0.09Y2.91Al5O12 ceramics have been measured as 534.5 nm, and there is no red shift. The high transmittance and emission peak (at 534.5 nm) suggested that this material could be a candidate for neutron detection applications.