The Molten Salt Synthesis of (Y 1− x Eu x ) 4 Al 2 O 9 Solid Solution Powders and Their PL Properties

(Y 1− x Eu x ) 4 Al 2 O 9 solid solution powders can be easily prepared by a simple and convenient method, which effectively combined a molten salt process with a chemical co‐precipitation technique. All the samples were characterized by XRD , SEM , and photoluminescence ( PL ) spectra techniques. The results show that the incorporation of NaCl salt can greatly promote the formation and crystallization of (Y 1− x Eu x ) 4 Al 2 O 9 crystallites, and lower their synthesizing temperature, and that their particle size and morphology strongly rely on x value, which finally dominates their PL properties. The prominent emission intensity of 5 D 0 → 7 F 2 transition rather than 5 D 0 → 7 F 1 indicates doped Eu 3+ cations occupy Y 3+ position in monoclinic Y 4 Al 2 O 9 , which is sensitive to Eu 3+ local environment, and at x  = 0.10, there exist a maximum PL intensity due to the concentration quenching effect.