Preparation and characterization of cerium doped YAG nanoparticles

Abstract

The research presented in this thesis focuses on teh characterization of Cerium doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG:Ce3+) nanoparticles prepared by gas phase condensation. The nanoparticles were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical spectroscopy techniques. SEM and AFM measurements reveal that the mean diameter of the nanoparticles were 27+/-4 and 38+/-5 nm. The excitation and emmission spectra of the nanoparticles were very similar to the spectra of the bulk single crystle YAG:Ce3+ indicating that YAG:Ce3+ nanocrystals has been successfully prepared. The effect of finite size on spectral peak position was investigated.