Scintillation Properties of β-Ga₂O₃ Single Crystal Excited by α-Ray

High-quantity and large-size β-Ga₂O₃ single crystals were grown by the optimal edge-defined film-fed method. Under the excitation of ²⁴¹Am α-ray, the scintillation light yields of the as-grown and after-annealed β-Ga₂O₃ single crystal are estimated to be 4797 and 6788 ph/5.5 MeV-α, respectively. The energy resolutions of the as-grown and after-annealed β-Ga₂O₃ single crystal are 21.8% and 19.1%, respectively. Annealing in the air can eliminate some color centers and decrease the concentration of free electrons, which can lead to the near-infrared absorption. The light yield and the energy resolution are some slightly worse than that of the commercial Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ (BGO) scintillator. However, the fast component with the time constant of 7 ns for the as-grown and after-annealed β-Ga₂O₃ single crystal reaches 25% of the total yield, suggesting that the β-Ga₂O₃ single crystal grown by the present method is a promising fast scintillator, which could be used in the ultrafast timing resolution detection systems.