SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF YAG:Ce PREPARED BY SOLID STATE REACTION METHOD (Sintesis dan Pencirian YAG:Ce Disediakan Melalui Kaedah Tindak Balas Keadaan Pepejal)

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) powder doped with Cerium (Ce) was successfully synthesized by solid-state reaction method. In our work, we investigated YAG and YAG:Ce phase formation by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and the result showed that YAG and YAG:Ce were crystallized at 1000°C for 6 h. In all samples, small peak of Ce2O3 appeared at 2θ = 28.572° and 47.51°. The intensity of these peaks increased with increasing doping concentration of dopant. Field emission scanning electronic microscope (FESEM) images showed that the resultant YAG:Ce powders were basically spherical. Particle size, estimated by XRD using Scherrer’s equation, was found to be 53 - 82 nm while by FESEM image the average sizes of the grains were in the range 45 – 50 nm. All the samples have pure YAG phase and the TAG intensity decreases on increasing the doping concentration.