High temperature neutron diffraction study of the Al2O3–Y2O3 system

The phase diagram of the Al2O3–Y2O3 system has been investigated with five different compositions by XRD and in situ high temperature neutron diffractometry. High purity YAG, YAP and YAM compounds have been produced successfully through a melt extraction technique. High temperature neutron diffraction has made it possible to follow, in real time, the reactions involved in this system, especially to determine the temperature range of each reaction, which would have been impossible to determine by other means. A good agreement between the experimental results and the phase diagram of the Al2O3–Y2O3 system has been observed.