The mechanochemical and solution combustion syntheses of cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate powder

Lu2SiO5:Ce powders have been synthesized by mechanochemical processing of the constituent oxides and by urea/hexamine-nitrate-based solution-combustion methods with microwave and furnace sintering of each material. Powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), photoluminescence excitation (PLE) and emission (PL) spectroscopy, time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC), particle size analysis (PSA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been used to characterize the resulting powders. Mechanochemical synthesis results in the formation of agglomerated powders with the C 1 2/c 1 symmetry while solution combustion leads to the formation of porous powders with a mixture of the C 1 2/c 1 and P 1 21/c 1 symmetries. This mixture transitions to the C 1 2/c 1 phase with sintering. Both syntheses result in particle sizes of less than 50 μm before sintering. Each material shows the typical luminescence from the 5d-4f transition in addition to decay times that match standard Ce3+ values.