Nd3+:Y3Al5O12 laser ceramics: Influence of the size of yttrium oxide particles on sintering

• Published in: Crystallography reports Vol. 60; no. 2; pp. 299 - 305
• Main Authors: Kosyanov, D. Yu, Baumer, V. N., Yavetskiy, R. P., Voznyy, V. L., Kravchenko, V. B., Kopylov, Yu. L., Tolmachev, A. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-03-2015
• Subjects: Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Nanomaterials and Ceramics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Yttrium Oxide; Crystallography Report; Yttrium; Slope Efficiency; Yttrium Aluminum Garnet
• ISSN: 1063-7745; 1562-689X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063774515020121

The influence of the size of Y
2
O
3
powder particles on the structure formation and densification of Nd
3+
:Y
3
Al
5
O
12
laser ceramics has been studied. It is shown that the use of 50- and 100-nm yttrium oxide particles makes it possible to synthesize single-phase yttrium aluminum garnet at temperatures of 1200 and 1500°C, respectively, whereas in the case of 5000-nm yttrium oxide particles 2-h exposure at a temperature of 1500°C yields only 80 wt % of the Nd
3+
:Y
3
Al
5
O
12
phase. Bulk swelling of pressed samples during sintering of 2.94Y
2
O
3
-0.06Nd
2
O
3
-5Al
2
O
3
powders with the size ratio of the initial particles
R
(Al
2
O
3
/Y
2
O
3
) ∼ 5 is observed. The application of different-sized powders (
R
∼ 2.5) provides quantitative ratios between phases in the 3Y
2
O
3
-5Al
2
O
3
system at which shrinkage in a temperature range of 20–1500°C is dominant. Laser ceramics 0–2 at % Nd
3+
:Y
3
Al
5
O
12
have been obtained by the solid-phase sintering of oxide powders (
R
∼ 2.5). The slope efficiency for 1 at % Nd
3+
:Y
3
Al
5
O
12
laser ceramics is found to be 33%.