Garnet-based complex substituted glass ceramic materials

Abstract The Ce-doped Y 2 CaAl 4 GeO 12 and Y 2 MgAl 4 GeO 12 garnets were fabricated as powders using co-precipitation, and as glass ceramics using the solid-state technique. The structural and photoluminescence properties of these materials were studied. The reflections of the garnet phase for powders and glass ceramics were registered in X-ray diffraction patterns. The shift of the reflections for powders and glass ceramics compared to the YAG reference was caused by the formation of substituted garnets. The photoluminescence properties of the garnet crystallites in the glass ceramics were studied. The localization of Ce 3+ ions in positions with different crystal fields was due to spatial variation in the composition of the garnet crystallites in glass ceramics. The formation of crystallites with a composition gradient was related to the fluctuations in the glass composition in the vicinity of garnet nuclei during their formation.