Local structure of the Ce3+ ion in the yellow emitting phosphor YAG:Ce

The local structure of the Ce3+ ion in the yellow emitting YAG:Ce phosphor has been studied by Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure spectroscopy in the 20–300 K temperature range. It is shown that the dopant Ce3+ replaces Y3+ in the garnet structure, giving rise to a significant expansion of the distorted cubic local structure, limited to the nearest neighbours coordination sphere only. The experimental Ce–O distances in the YAG structure obtained in this study are in good agreement with the recently published values, derived from periodic-boundary-conditions density functional theory calculations.

► The local structure of the Ce3+ ion in the YAG:Ce phosphor has been studied by EXAFS.
► The dopant Ce3+ replaces Y3+ in the garnet structure.
► A significant expansion of the distorted cubic local structure is observed.
► The experimental Ce-O distances are in good agreement with the theoretical ones.