Assessment of the scintillation properties of MgGa 2 O 4 and ZnGa 2 O 4 single crystals

We present the basic scintillation properties of MgGa 2 O 4 and ZnGa 2 O 4 crystals grown at Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung by the Czochralski and the Vertical Gradient Freeze methods, respectively. We prove that these two Ga-based spinels do scintillate under gamma irradiation, currently displaying scintillation yields up to about 2500 ph/MeV. We also show the scintillation time profiles and their anticorrelation with the scintillation yields (the lower the yield, the faster the scintillation decay). Finally, we indicate that radioluminescence of both MgGa 2 O 4 and ZnGa 2 O 4 is much more efficient at low temperatures, which suggests the presence of a strong thermal quenching decreasing their yield towards room temperature.