Dense ceramics of lanthanide-doped Lu2O3 prepared by spark plasma sintering

Dense ceramics of Ln:Lu2O3 (Ln = Pr, Eu, Tb, Dy) were obtained using spark plasma sintering (SPS) from co-precipitated nanocrystalline powders. X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopies were used for the characterization of Ln:Lu2O3 powders obtained by various annealing regimes. Transparency of the sintered ceramics was achieved when powders with highly developed crystallinity were used for sintering. Sintered ceramics exhibited luminescence with a characteristic emission based on the element doped into the Lu2O3 host. The light yield of the sintered ceramics improved when the sintered ceramics was further annealed. The annealing of the sintered ceramics also improved the transmittance in the visible region; however, the transparency was lost when the annealing temperature was too high. To our best knowledge, the SPS fabrication of dense ceramics of Pr3+, Tb3+ and Dy3+-doped Lu2O3 is reported here for the first time.