Determining the phase composition of yttrium oxide nanopowders by means of luminescence

Abstract

The possibility of developing a luminescence technique for phase composition analysis is demonstrated via the example of bi-phase yttria nanopowders doped with neodymium ions. The deviation from X-ray diffraction reference values is ±2%. It is found that the results depend on the inhomogeneity of the crystalline phase distribution within a sample’s bulk, rather than on the luminescence scattering by powder nanoparticles. A luminescence coefficient that determines the phase inhomogeneity in nanopowders is introduced.