Sol‐Gel Preparation and Characterization of Codoped Yttrium Aluminium Garnet Powders

A sol‐gel method has been developed to prepare lanthanide‐codoped yttrium aluminium garnet (Y₃Al₅O₁₂, YAG) ceramic samples. The XRD patterns of the polycrystalline Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Nd,Ho and Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Nd,Er powders sintered at 1000 °C showed the formation of monophasic garnet materials. A homogeneous distribution of rare‐earth dopants in the YAG lattice was achieved in both cases. The morphological characterization of lanthanide‐codoped YAG by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the formation of highly agglomerated nanocrystalline samples. The luminescence properties of sol‐gel derived doubly activated yttrium aluminium garnet samples were also investigated in the present study.