Method For Controlling Gallium Content in Gadolinium-Gallium Garnet Scintillators

A method comprising:

• blending together nanometer and/or micrometer-sized particles that comprise M1, M2, M3 and M4 to produce a powder having a composition that comprises the formula (1):
• M1aM2bM3cM4dO12 (1)
• where
• O represents oxygen,
• M1, M2, M3, and M4 represent a first, second, third, and fourth metal that are different from each other,
• the sum of a+b+c+d is about 8, where
• “a” has a value of about 2 to about 3.5,
• “b” has a value of 2 to about 5,
• “c” has a value of 1 to about 5, and
• “d” has a value of 0.001 to about 1, where “b” and “c”, “b” and “d”, or “c” and “d” cannot both be equal to zero simultaneously,
• M1 is a rare earth element comprising gadolinium, yttrium, lutetium, scandium, or a combination of thereof,
• M2 is aluminum or boron,
• M3 is gallium, and
• M4 is a dopant and comprises one of thallium, copper, silver, lead, bismuth, indium, tin, antimony, tantalum, tungsten, strontium, barium, boron, magnesium, calcium, cerium, yttrium, scandium, lanthanum, lutetium, praseodymium, terbium, ytterbium, samarium, europium, holmium, dysprosium, erbium, thulium or neodymium;
• and
• heating the powder to a temperature of 800 to 1700° C. in an oxygen containing atmosphere to manufacture a crystalline scintillator.