A new detector with Cerium-doped yttrium garnet (YAG:Ce) scintillator crystal plate is reported. The crystal of YAG:Ce, made in China at Hangzhou Yong Hee Photonics Co. Ltd has 0.2% Cerium activator and was grown by Bridgeman method. Since the maximum of the peak emission of YAG:Ce is situated at 550nm, the readout can be made with a PIN photodiode. The dimensions of the crystal plate are 18x18x10mm³. The photodiode used in this experiment was of type S3204-08, made in Japan by Hamamatsu, with an active area of 18x18mm², which is not affected by magnetic field. The signal from this detector was fed into a charge sensitive amplifier. Two positron sources of 48V (with energies of 511 keV, 983.5 keV, 1312.1 keV) and 22Na (511keV, 1274 keV) were used to measure the energy resolution obtained. We find a value 12%, bigger than the energy resolution obtained for CsI(Tl)(6.7%) with the same PIN photodiode readout and the same charge sensitive preamplifier. Also, the YAG:Ce crystal was polished on all faces and then was wrapped with black paper on lateral faces. The YAG:Ce crystal is non-hygroscopic in comparison with NaI(Tl) and CsI(Tl) crystals, and so it can be used in high temperature and ultra-high vacuum conditions for a long time. The decay time of 70ns for YAG:Ce is smaller than the decay time for CsI(Tl), which makes it a fast detector. Indeed, the YAG:Ce crystal is very good for replacing the old crystals used in gamma radiation detectors from a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner and from other types of end detectors used for high energy experiments.

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