Crystallization behaviour of neodymium doped yttrium silicate nanophosphors

Sol–gel technique was used to prepare yttrium silicate powders doped with 0.01Nd3+. The crystallite sizes were determined to be 23 ± 0.5 nm from the XRD patterns of the powders annealed at 960 °C. The Y4.67(SiO4)3O, Y2Si2O7 and Y2SiO5 crystalline phases were observed upon heat treatment at 960 °C which is much lower than 1500–1650 °C are reported before.