Direct Synthesis of Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Particles in an Inductively Coupled Radio-Frequency Plasma System

Advanced phosphor materials such as cerium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) are of interest for a variety of applications, including light-emitting diodes. Previous studies have shown that it is difficult to produce the desired YAG phase without ex-situ annealing irrespective of the synthesis technique used. This study focuses on direct synthesis of YAG phosphor particles using an inductively coupled thermal plasma system with a ceramic tube inserted coaxially into the chamber. Numerical modeling indicates that the tube provides a more uniform high-temperature region, without flow recirculation. This is hypothesized to aid in size and phase control through selective particle collection and in-flight annealing. Experiments conducted with the tube-insertion setup indicate that phase and size control of the particles is possible to a certain extent, depending on the size of the tube. Characterization results of the synthesized particles showed that submicron-sized YAG particles are synthesized as the majority phase through the tube-insertion setup.