Structural and luminescence investigation on gadolinium gallium garnet nanocrystalline powders prepared by solution combustion synthesis

Abstract

Nanocrystalline powders of undoped and lanthanide (Pr 3+ , Tm 3+ )-doped gadolinium gallium garnet, Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 (GGG), were prepared by propellant synthesis and studied by x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), electron diffraction (ED), high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) and luminescence spectroscopy. The x-ray diffraction patterns of the GGG samples were analysed using the Rietveld method. The Rietveld refinement reveals the existence of two garnet-type phases: both are cubic (space group I a3d) with a slightly different lattice parameter and probably a slightly different composition. Electron diffraction and electron microscopy measurements confirm the x-ray diffraction results. EDX measurements for lanthanide-doped samples show that stable solid solutions with composition Gd 3−x Ln x Ga 5 O 12 , x ≈ 0.3 (Ln = Pr; Tm) have been obtained. The luminescence properties of the Tm 3+ -doped nanocrystalline GGG samples were measured and analysed.

Nanocrystalline lanthanide-doped Lu3Ga5O12garnets: interesting materials for light-emitting devices

“…The effective decay time of the 1 D 2 level, obtained from equation (2), results to be 37.2 μs. This value is similar to that found for a Tm 3+ -doped GGG nanocrystalline sample prepared by a combustion procedure [6]. [55], while the YAG and GGG samples have been prepared with a propellant technique [42] and a citric acid solgel procedure [54], respectively.…”

“…It has been found that nanosized materials can maintain excellent spectroscopic properties typical of bulk systems, making them interesting as materials for devices of technological importance, especially in the photonic and bioimaging fields [1][2][3][4][5]. Among oxidebased materials, garnets have gained a considerable degree of attention due to their interesting chemical and physical properties such as high density, high thermal conductivity and hardness, and good chemical stability [6]. Many investigations on the luminescence properties of lanthanidedoped garnets have shown that they can be usefully employed as laser crystals, phosphors and upconverter materials [7][8][9][10].…”

“…Moreover, recent studies have described the luminescence of rare-earth-doped lutetium-based compounds, because of their excellent emission properties [20]. Some efforts have been spent in the recent past also to investigate the emission properties of rare-earth-doped nanocrystalline garnets [21], in particular Y 3 Al 5 O 12 (YAG) [22,23] and Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 (GGG) [6,24]. On the other hand, only a few papers have been published on the morphological and luminescence properties of lanthanide-doped nanocrystalline LuGG powders [25,26].…”

Electronic and elastic properties of yttrium gallium garnet under pressure from ab initio studies

“…The Y 3 Al 5 O 12 (YAG) 3,4 and the Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 (GGG) 5,6 nanostructures have proved to be efficient, flexible, and robust luminescent materials which can support high concentrations of RE 3þ ions through substitution of Y 3þ or Gd 3þ ions without charge compensation. Y 3 Ga 5 O 12 (YGG) is also a good host matrix for rare earths; thus, it is worth researching its structural and electronic properties under high pressure which can provide important information about how a change in the RE 3þ environment would affect its luminescence properties.…”

Structure and charge density of Ce doped gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG)

“…It has been a subject of intense research for the past three decades, because it is a very good host for doping with rare-earth ions [2]. Various authors [3][4][5][6] have studied the luminescence properties of GGG crystals doped with lanthanide ions.…”