Ultra-fast scintillation properties of β-Ga₂O₃ single crystals grown by Floating Zone method

In this investigation, β-Ga₂O₃ single crystals were grown by the Floating Zone method. At room temperature, the X-ray excited emission spectrum includes ultraviolet and blue emission bands. The scintillation light output is comparable to the commercial BGO scintillator. The scintillation decay times are composed of the dominant ultra-fast component of 0.368 ns and a small amount of slightly slow components of 8.2 and 182 ns. Such fast component is superior to most commercial inorganic scintillators. In contrast to most semiconductor crystals prepared by solution method such as ZnO, β-Ga₂O₃ single crystals can be grown by traditional melt-growth method. Thus we can easily obtain large bulk crystals and mass production.