Formation peculiarities and optical properties of highly-doped (Y0.86La0.09Yb0.05)2O3 transparent ceramics

• Published in: Ceramics international Vol. 45; no. 13; pp. 16002 - 16007
• Main Authors: Kryzhanovska, O.S., Baumer, V.N., Parkhomenko, S.V., Doroshenko, A.G., Yavetskiy, R.P., Balabanov, A.E., Tolmachev, А.V., Skorik, S.N., Li, Jiang, Kuncser, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-09-2019
• Subjects: Functional application; Optical properties; Sintering; X-ray methods; Y2O3; Y2O3; X-ray methods; Sintering; Optical properties; Functional application
• ISSN: 0272-8842; 1873-3956
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2019.05.111

Formation peculiarities of highly-doped (Y0.86La0.09Yb0.05)2O3 transparent ceramics have been studied by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy methods. The phase composition evolution of 1.81Y2O3∙0.18La2O3∙0.01Yb2O3 powder mixtures annealed at the temperatures of 1100, 1200, 1300, and 1400 °C has been studied by XRD. It has been shown that Yb2O3 phase dissolves in Y2O3 matrix in the calcination temperature range of 1300–1400 °C. Complete dissolution of La2O3 in Y2O3 matrix occurs at temperatures above 1400 °C. La3+ ions enter in Y2O3 and Yb2O3 crystal structures simultaneously in the 1200–1300 °C range, which leads to a remarkable increase in the volume of the corresponding crystal lattices. The possible reasons for suppressing the crystalline growth of Y2O3 and Yb2O3 cubic phases have been discussed. Finally, (Y0.86La0.09Yb0.05)2O3 transparent ceramics have been obtained by solid-state vacuum sintering at 1650–1750 °C. Ceramics synthesized at a temperature of 1750 °C have been characterized by an in-line optical transmittance of 60% and a homogeneous distribution of constituent components within the volume and along the grain boundaries.