Optical materials that emit from the visible to the near-infrared spectral region are of great interest due to their possible application as tunable radiation sources, as signal transmission, display, optoelectronics signal storage, cellulose industry as well as in dosimetry. One important family of such systems are the spinel compounds doped with Cr 3+ , in which the physical the properties are related to the insertion of punctual defects in the crystalline structure. The purpose of our work is two fold. First, we compare the luminescence of the MgGa 2 O 4 -Ga 2 O 3 system with the single phase Ga 2 O 3 and MgGa 2 O 4 and relate structural changes observed in MgGa 2 O 4 -Ga 2 O 3 system to the optical properties, and secondly, to compare the neutron powder diffraction results obtained using two diffractometers: D2B located at the ILL (Grenoble, France) and Aurora located at IPEN (São Paulo, Brazil). In the configuration chosen, Aurora shows an improved resolution, which is related to the design of its silicon focusing monochromator.