LAUSR

Abstract The effects of presintering temperature, soak time, and Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIPing) temperature on the microstructure and densification behavior of cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthsilicate (Lu 2 SiO 5 :Ce, LSO:Ce) ceramics were investigated. It was determined that the most suitable presintering conditions (minimum presintering temperature and shortest soak time) required to obtain closed porosity were a 4 h dwell at 1650 °C in air. The optimal HIPing conditions to achieve full density were determined to be 1 h at 1650 °C under a 150 MPa Ar atmosphere. The luminescence decay time of the HIPed LSO:Ce ceramics is composited of a fast component of 10 ns (51%) and a slow component of 31 ns (49%), which is shorter than that of cerium-doped rare earth oxyorthsilicate single crystal. The light yield of the LSO:Ce ceramics reaches 21,000 photons/MeV, which is ∼95% of the value of a typical LSO:Ce single crystal.