Nanostructured Yb:GGG polycrystalline powders via gel combustion method

Gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) nanopowders doped with ytterbium ions (Yb:GGG) were synthesized with citric acid as a fuel via gel combustion method. The optimized conditions for preparing Yb3+:Gd3Ga5O12 nanopowders were discussed. The heat behavior, struc-ture and morphology of powders were analyzed with thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectra (IR) and trans-mission electron microscope (TEM). TG-DTA analysis revealed that the weight loss of the precursor occured below 800 ℃ and its crystalli-zation temperature was 830.6 ℃. XRD and IR analysis showed that the precursor converted directly into pure GGG at a relatively lower tem-perature (900 ℃) without any other intermediate phase. The lattice constant was 1.2377 calculated by extrapolation method. TEM results in-dicated that the spherical powders showed good dispersity and had a relatively narrow size distribution with average particle size of approxi-mately 40-50 nm, which was favorable for good sinterability of Yb:GCG laser ceramic.