Preparation and characteristic of properties of high transmission Nd:YAG transparent ceramic

Neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) precursor powders were fabricated by co-precipitation method, using Al(NO3)(3)center dot 9H(2)O, Y(NO3)(3)center dot 6H(2)O, (NH4)(2)SO4 and Nd(NO3)(3) as raw materials, NH4HCO3 as precipitator, TEOS as sintering additive. After calcining the Nd:YAG precursor at 1200 degrees C for 5h, the well dispersive, spherical pure cubic YAG nano-powders with average particle size of about 100nm were obtained. Subsequently, calcined powders were molded by cold isostatic presses. Transparent ceramics of excellent transmission were obtained by sintering Nd:YAG green body at 1700-1800 degrees C for 10h in vacuum. The ceramic crystal grains with average size of about 15 mu m appear uniformity. There is no impurity and core in grain interface and inner-grain. No scattering center can be detected. The transmission of the sample with thickness of 1.5mm is 83.5% at the near infrared wavelength of 1064nm, which is very close to the theoretical value of Nd:YAG single crystal.