A new Y-Fe-O compound was synthesized by the RF thermal plasma evaporation method using a co-precipitated powder or nitrate solutions of Y and Fe as raw materials.
The XRD pattern showed that its crystal structure was a face-centered cubic of Y and Fe with a0=0.485nm. In an experiment using a nitrate solution of Y:Fe=1:3 and an Ar-O2 plasma, the unknown ultrafine particles of almost single phase were synthesized as a dendrite. The diameters of the primary particles were about 10nm.
From the results of the experiments, using Ar-O2 plasma and controlling the Y:Fe ratio, the radiation heat of plasma tail flame was shown to be necessary for synthesizing the unknown in a perfect single phase.
Heating the unknown powders of almost a single phase at various temperatures for 8hr made it clear that the unkown powders were attracted to a magnet if the half widths of XRD peaks were below certain widths.