Preparation and characterization of Nd doped gadolinium gallium garnet nanopowders and crystals

The structural and optical features of gallium gadolinium garnet (GGG) nanopowders doped with neodymium were investigated. Nanopowders of GGG:Nd were prepared by modified sol‐gel method using acetic acid as complexing agent. This way permitted to incorporate large amounts of dopant (up to 10 %) without destroying garnet structure. Small single crystals of Nd:GGG were grown by a μ‐pulling down method and spectroscopic features of nanopowders and their single crystal counterparts were compared. It has concluded that the Nd³⁺ ions are located preferentially in the same type of sites in crystal lattices of GGG:Nd nanopowders and their single crystal counterparts. In addition, it follows from the perfect agreement of emission wavelengths and line width recorded for nanopowders and single crystal samples that the crystal lattice of GGG in nanopowders is not distorted. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)