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Garnet scintillators often suffer from undesired afterglow, the origin of which is not always well-understood. A possible origin is contamination with transition metal (TM) ions. These impurities can act as traps giving rise to afterglow. Alternatively, they may show long-lived (microsecond) d–d emission. Here we present a systematic study on the role of 3d TM impurities in (Lu,Gd)3(Ga,Al)5O12garnet scintillators. Scintillator disks intentionally doped with ppm levels of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, or Zn were studied to identify TM-related traps in thermoluminescence (TSL) glow curves and their role in afterglow. For Ti, V, and Cr additional TSL peaks were observed that gave rise to RT afterglow in the 10–2–103s time range, depending on garnet composition. On the millisecond time scale long-lived red/near-infrared emission was observed from Mn and Fe impurities, explained by spin-forbidden d–d emission. We show that afterglow can be reduced by the use of ultrapure raw materials. Other solutions include bandgap engineering for the garnet host to modify trap depths and applying optical filters to block the spin-forbidden d–d emission. The present study provides an insightful overview of the role of 3d TM impurities on afterglow in Ce-doped scintillators and procedures to predict and reduce afterglow. These insights will aid the development of Ce-doped garnets with superior afterglow behavior.

Light yield, time response, afterglow, and thermoluminescence of Ce-doped garnet scintillators and persistent luminescent materials are controlled by a complex interplay between recombination and trapping/detrapping processes. Extensive research has contributed to a good qualitative understanding of how traps, impurities, and the presence of Ce4+affect the materials properties. In this work we present a quantitative model that can explain the thermoluminescence and afterglow behavior of complex garnets. In particular, the model allows the determination of capture rates and effective capture radii for electrons by traps and recombination centers in Lu1Gd2Ga3Al2O12:Ce garnet ceramics. The model relies on solving a set of coupled rate equations describing charge carrier trapping and recombination in garnet ceramics doped with Ce and also codoped with a known concentration of an intentionally added electron trap, Yb3+. The model is supported by analysis of a complete set of experimental data on afterglow, rise-time kinetics, and X-ray excited luminescence which show that thermoluminescence/afterglow are governed by trapping/detrapping processes following interactive kinetics with dominant recombination channel. The underlying reason for dominant recombination is the presence of a small fraction of Ce4+(≈2 ppm in the 0.2% Ce-doped sample) which have a very high capture cross section (≈2.7 Å effective radius) because of the Coulomb attractive nature of this recombination center. The quantitative insights on capture cross sections and concentrations of Ce4+help to better understand the optical properties of Ce-doped garnet scintillators and persistent luminescent materials and serve in optimizing synthesis procedures by tuning the Ce3+/Ce4+ratio by codoping with divalent cations and annealing in an oxygen-containing atmosphere.