Crystalline phase of Y2O3:Eu particles generated in a substrate-free flame process

In this study, factors affecting the crystal structure of flame-synthesized Y2O3:Eu particles were investigated, especially the particle size effect and its interaction with Eu doping concentration. Polydisperse Y2O3:Eu (size range 200 nm to 3 μm) powder samples with Eu doping concentrations from 2.5 mol% to 25 mol% were generated in either H2/air or H2/O2 substrate-free flames. The crystal structure of the powder samples was determined by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), which was complemented by photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Single particle crystal structure was determined by single particle selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and for the first time, by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). H2/air flames resulted in cubic phase Y2O3:Eu particles with hollow morphology and irregular shapes. Particles from H2/O2 flames had dense and spherical morphology; samples with lower Eu doping concentrations had mixed cubic/monoclinic phases; samples with the highest Eu doping concentrations were phase-pure monoclinic. For samples generated from H2/O2 flames, a particle size effect and its interaction with Eu doping concentration were found: particles smaller than a critical diameter had the monoclinic phase, and this critical diameter increased with increasing Eu doping concentration. These findings suggest that the formation of monoclinic Y2O3:Eu is inevitable when extremely hot substrate-free flames are used, because typical flame-synthesized Y2O3:Eu particle sizes are well below the critical diameter. However, it may be possible to generate particles with dense, spherical morphology and the desired cubic structure by using a moderately high flame temperature that enables fast sintering without melting the particles.