Improvements in Light Yield and Energy Resolution by Li+ Codoping (Lu0.75Y0.25)3Al5O12:Pr3+ Single Crystal Scintillators

In this study, we demonstrated a drastic improvement in energy resolution of (Lu0.75Y0.25)3Al5O12:Pr (LuYAG) single crystal scintillators from 4.8% to 4.1% at 662 keV upon Li+ codoping, which is the best value ever reported in the class of oxide single crystal scintillators. Li+ codoping can also significantly enhance its scintillation yield from 16 000 to 25 000 photons MeV−1, but slightly prolong the scintillation decay time. As Li+ codoping was found to have a negligible effect on the light yield non‐proportionality, we attributed the significant improvement in energy resolution to the reduced statistical variance in the number of photoelectrons produced in the photomultiplier tube (Rstat).