Comparative study of optical and scintillation responses of Sr₃NbGa₃Si₂O₁₄(SNGS) and La₃Ta_0.5Ga₅3Al_0.2O₁₄ (LTGA) crystals

Optical and scintillation properties of Sr₃NbGa₃Si₂O₁₄(SNGS) single crystal were evaluated for the first time and compared with those of La₃Ta_0.5Ga₅3Al_0.2O₁₄ (LTGA), which was previously reported to exhibit such properties. SNGS showed ~80% optical transmittance at wavelengths longer than 250 nm. Under 250 ran excitation, a strong photoluminescence (PL) appeared at 400 nm with a primary decay time of 1.4 ns. In an X-ray-induced radioluminescence spectrum, an intense emission peak at 400 nm was observed, and the primary scintillation decay time was '1.37 (as. Finally, the absolute scintillation light yield of SNGS turned out to be 850 photons/MeV, which was higher than that of LTGA.