Towards effective indirect radioisotope energy converters with bright and radiation hard scintillators of (Gd,Y)3Al2Ga3O12 family

Ceramics of quaternary garnets (Gd,Y)3Al2Ga3O12 doped with Ce, Tb have been fabricated and evaluated as prospective materials for indirect energy converters of α-and β-voltaic. Samples were characterized at excitation with an X-ray source and an intense 150 keV electron beam and showed good temperature stability of their emission and tolerance to irradiation. The role of X-rays accompanied the α-particle emitting in the increase of the conversion efficiency is clarified. The garnet-type structure of the matrix in the developed materials allows the production of quality crystalline mass with a light yield exceeding that of the commonly used YAG: Ce scintillator by a factor of two times. © 2022 Korean Nuclear SocietyMinistry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka: 075-15-2021-1353, FEUZ-2020-0060; Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki, MNiSW: 075-11-2021-070; Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian FederationAuthors with affiliations b, d, e and f acknowledge support from Russian Ministry of Science and Education grant No. 075-15-2021-1353 . The scientific equipment provided by shared research facilities “Scientific Research Analytical Center of National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” – IREA” was used, with financial support of Russian Federation, represented by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, agreement No. 075-11-2021-070 dated August 19, 2021. The work was partially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (through the basic part of the government mandate, project No. FEUZ-2020-0060 ) (authors with affiliation “c”).Authors with affiliations b, d, e and f acknowledge support from Russian Ministry of Science and Education grant No. 075-15-2021-1353. The scientific equipment provided by shared research facilities “Scientific Research Analytical Center of National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” – IREA” was used, with financial support of Russian Federation, represented by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, agreement No. 075-11-2021-070 dated August 19, 2021. The work was partially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (through the basic part of the government mandate, project No. FEUZ-2020-0060) (authors with affiliation “c”)