Prospective scintillation electron detectors for S(T)EM based on garnet film scintillators

The performance of a scintillation electron detector for a scanning electron microscope and/or a scanning transmission electron microscope (S(T)EM) based on new epitaxial garnet film scintillators was explored. The LuGAGG:Ce and LuGAGG:Ce,Mg film scintillators with chemical formula (Ce_0.01 Lu_0.27 Gd_0.74 )_3-w Mg_w (Ga_2.48 Al_2.46 )O₁₂ were prepared and their cathodoluminescence (CL) and optical properties were studied and compared with the properties of current standard bulk single crystal YAG:Ce and YAP:Ce scintillators. More specifically, CL decay characteristics, CL emission spectra, CL intensities, optical absorption coefficients, and the refractive indices of the mentioned scintillators were measured. Furthermore, electron interaction volumes with absorbed energy distributions, photomultiplier (PMT) photocathode matchings, modulation transfer functions (MTF), and the photon transport efficiencies of scintillation detectors with the mentioned scintillators were calculated. A CL decay time for the LuGAGG:Ce,Mg film scintillator as low as 28 ns with an afterglow of only 0.02% at 1 μs after the e-beam excitation was observed. As determined from calculated MTFs, the scintillation detectors with the new film scintillators lose contrast transfer ability above 0.6 lp/pixel, while the currently commonly used YAG:Ce single crystal scintillators already do so above 0.1 lp/pixel. It was also calculated that the new studied film scintillators have an 8% higher photon transfer efficiency, even for a simple disk shape compared with the standard bulk single crystal YAG:Ce scintillator. The studied LuGAGG:Ce,Mg epitaxial garnet film scintillators were evaluated as prospective fast scintillators for electron detectors, not only in S(T)EM but also in other e-beam devices.