Luminescence comparison of YAG:Ce phosphors prepared by microwave heating and precipitation methods

Ce-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG:Ce) particles were prepared by microwave heating and conventional precipitation methods. The YAG:Ce particles prepared by microwave synthesis showed higher luminescence intensity compared with those prepared by the precipitation method. The emission intensity of YAG:Ce particles had a linear relation to the crystallite size, regardless of the preparation method. According to the XRD analysis, the YAG particles prepared by the microwave method had larger crystallite size than that of the particles prepared by the precipitation method. In addition, the pure YAG phase without any impurity was obtained by the microwave method, even at low thermal-treatment temperature. Thus, it was concluded that the high crystallinity and phase purity are responsible for the high luminescence intensity of microwave-synthesized YAG:Ce phosphor.