We have investigated optical and scintillation properties of Cr-doped YAlO3 (Cr:YAP) single crystals with different Cr concentrations. Cr:YAP crystals were grown by the micro-pulling-down (mu-PD) method. The grown crystals had a single-phase confirmed by the powder XRD analysis. For all the Cr-doped samples, a peak positioned near 700 nm wavelength dominates the spectra. It can be ascribed to the Cr3+ E-2 ->(4)A(2) emission. In X-ray induced radioluminescence spectra, E-2 ->(4)A(2) emissions were observed. The light output of Cr 0.5%:YAP under X-ray excitation was more than twice as high as the standard CdWO4. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.